Türkiye deeply concerned over growing Jerusalem, West Bank tensions
The Dome of the Rock shrine is lit up at dusk at the Al-Aqsa mosque compound, East Jerusalem, occupied Palestine, March 21, 2023. (AFP Photo)


With the Muslim holy month of Ramadan just around the corner, Türkiye voiced "deep concern" over the growing tensions in Jerusalem and West Bank on Wednesday.

In a statement, the Turkish Foreign Ministry criticized the "baseless, irresponsible and provocative claims" made by some Israeli politicians on the Palestinian state and people, "which are incompatible with political, historical or current realities."

Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich in a speech Sunday in the French capital Paris denied the existence of the Palestinian people, claiming that the Palestinians were "an invention" from the last century and people like himself and his grandparents were the "real Palestinians."

Ankara further condemned Israel's annulling part of a 2005 law that had ordered Jewish residents' evacuation from four illegal settlements in the occupied West Bank.