Turkey chides Israel for new West Bank settlement plans

ANKARA

Turkey on Friday criticized recently approved plans by Israel to expand its illegal settlements in the occupied West Bank.

In a statement, the Turkish Foreign Ministry said the move to contract over 12,000 residential units in 2020 alone was the latest example of Tel Aviv's unlawful and aggressive policies violating international law and UN resolutions.

Underlining that these policies of occupation and annexation were doomed to fail, it said Turkey would continue to support Palestine and endeavor for an independent and sovereign Palestinian state based on 1967 borders with East Jerusalem as its capital.

The West Bank, including East Jerusalem, is regarded as occupied territory under international law, thus making all Jewish settlements there illegal.

Israel occupied the Gaza Strip and the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, in 1967.