Turkey slams illegal Israeli settlement in E Jerusalem

ANKARA-Anadolu Agency

Turkey on June 2 condemned Israel's illegal settlement activities in occupied east Jerusalem.

"Israel's continuation of its illegal settlement activities in the occupied Palestinian territories even during the holy month of Ramadan is the latest example of its inhumane approach," the Turkish Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

The ministry said Israel continued to hijack the rights of the Palestinian people by approving the construction of over 800 additional settlement units in occupied East Jerusalem, which we recognize as the capital of the State of Palestine.

It stressed that Israel disregards fundamental human rights and international law with its actions.

"It is now time to put an end to Israel's decisions which aim to erode the status of Jerusalem and to destroy the vision for a two-state solution," the ministry added.

"In Palestine, we will never accept history to be rewritten, justice to be exchanged in return for economic interest and dignity and legitimacy to be ignored. We will always continue supporting our Palestinian brothers and sisters and the just cause of Palestine," it said.

Israel occupied the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, during the 1967 Arab-Israeli War. International law views the entire West Bank as “occupied territory” and considers all Israeli settlement building there as illegal.

Roughly 650,000 Jewish settlers currently live on more than 100 settlements in the Israeli-occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem.

The Palestinians, for their part, want both these territories -- along with the Gaza Strip -- for the establishment of a future Palestinian state.