Turkish deputy PM to attend meeting for ‘action plan’ on al-Aqsa Mosque

ANKARA

Deputy Prime Minister Numan Kurtulmuş (R) arrives in Morocco on Nov. 11. AA Photo

Deputy Prime Minister Numan Kurtulmuş is set to attend a meeting in Morocco to discuss the Palestinian issue, at which an “action plan” on the issue of the al-Aqsa Mosque will be adopted, Turkey’s Foreign Ministry said in a written statement on Nov. 12.

“The Jerusalem contact group of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation [OIC] will convene on Nov. 12 in Morocco with an urgent agenda over the Israeli breach in Jerusalem and the Temple Mount, as well as Israeli soldiers’ moves in the al-Aqsa Mosque on Nov. 5,” read the statement.

In the most recent clashes in a fortnight of violence over access to Jerusalem’s holiest site, Palestinian protesters fought with Israeli security forces in East Jerusalem and the occupied West Bank on Nov. 7.

Tension erupted after the Israeli authorities sealed access to the mosque complex after the shooting of an extremist Jewish rabbi in the city, before reopening it hours later.

The unrest mounted further after Israeli forces killed a young Palestinian man suspected of shooting the rabbi in a raid on his home in East Jerusalem.

Several Israeli parliamentarians also entered the mosque complex, drawing the ire of Muslim worshippers and official condemnations from a number of Arab and Muslim countries.