Turkey's Parliament Speaker Mustafa Şentop, as the term chair of the Parliamentary Union of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (PUIC), condemned the forced evictions of Palestinian families from their homes in East Jerusalem's Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood by Israeli authorities.
In his message, Şentop said: "The policies, evictions and displacements of our Palestinian brothers and sisters that have been going on in Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood since last Ramadan and that we have witnessed in other lands under Israeli occupation are against human rights and international law. We condemn the forced eviction of the Salhiyeh family members, who are struggling to live in the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood in East Jerusalem."
Noting that PUIC confirmed its full support for the honorable struggle of the Palestinian people, Şentop stated that the attacks on the demographic and legal status of Jerusalem are the biggest obstacle to the search for a solution and permanent peace.
Şentop urged the international community not to remain indifferent to this issue any longer.
The statement came after Israeli forces went to the home of the Salhiyeh family last week, assaulted its occupants and demolished the house after a forced evacuation.
The family said they had been living in the home since 1948 after being expelled from the Ein Karen neighborhood.
The Turkish Foreign Ministry last week condemned the eviction of the Salhiyeh family and other Palestinian families from their homes as contravening international law and human rights.
"Israel's unilateral practices, which erode the demographic and legal status of Jerusalem, undermine the vision of a two-state solution and the ground for lasting peace," it said.
Israel's forced eviction of Palestinian families in the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood sparked an 11-day war last May between the Israeli army and Palestinian factions in Gaza.
