Turkey slams Israel for planned Judea and Samaria construction

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan says it’s not just territory in Judea and Samaria that rightfully belongs to the Palestinians.

By Lauren Marcus, World Israel News

Turkey’s Foreign Ministry released a harshly worded statement on Sunday slamming Israel for ending its de-facto freeze on construction in Judea and Samaria.

The Higher Planning Council for Judea and Samaria is expected to allow construction of 5,400 new housing units in 25 Jewish municipalities in Judea and Samaria beginning October 14.

“Reports of Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu approving additional illegal settlements in the West Bank is a new proof of this country’s occupier ideology, which disregards international law and the United Nations resolutions,” read the Turkish Foreign Ministry statement.

The statement went on to directly reference a claim by Emirati officials that the peace deal with Israel was conditional upon suspending annexation.

“Recent claims by some countries that they have halted the implementation of these [annexation] plans by signing a normalization agreement with Israel, clearly shows that it is merely a hoax,” the Turkish Foreign Ministry wrote.

“We once again point out that we do not accept these illegal steps of Israel and call on the international community to resist against the attempts to undermine the rights of the Palestinian people and their aspiration for independence.”

“The Palestinian territories belong to the Palestinian people,” the statement continued. “We will not allow this fact to be forgotten. We will continue to stand side by side with our Palestinian brothers and defend the Palestinian cause.”

But according to Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, it’s not just territory in Judea and Samaria that rightfully belongs to the Palestinians.

During a speech addressing the Turkish parliament last Thursday, Erdoğan called Jerusalem “our city,” referring to the 400 years the city was under Ottoman rule.

“In this city that we had to leave in tears during the First World War, it is still possible to come across traces of the Ottoman resistance. So Jerusalem is our city, a city from us.”

“Our first qibla [Islamic prayer compass] al-Aqsa and the Dome of the Rock in Jerusalem are the symbolic mosques of our faith.”

“We consider it an honor on behalf of our country and nation to express the rights of the oppressed Palestinian people on every platform, with whom we have lived for centuries,” he said.

“With this understanding, we will follow both the Palestinian cause, which is the bleeding wound of the global conscience, and the Jerusalem case to the end.”

Israel-Turkey relationsRecep Tayyip ErdoganTurkey