Erdogan urges OIC to act after Israel's Al-Aqsa attack

ANKARA

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has called on the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) to take an active role against Israel’s breach of Al-Aqsa Mosque in East Jerusalem, a presidency source said Tuesday.

On Sunday and Monday, Palestinians and Israeli security forces clashed at the mosque - a revered site for both Muslims and Jews - resulting in dozens of injured casualties.

Dozens of Israeli forces on Tuesday forced their way into the flashpoint site for the third day in a row and attacked Muslim worshippers.

In a phone conversation with Saudi Arabia's King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, Erdogan described Israel’s attack as extremely worrying.

The president underlined that the Islamic world and international community should take a joint stance against such violations.

Al Saud agreed that the Al-Aqsa Mosque attack was intolerable and Muslims could not be forcefully evicted from their sacred place of worship.

He said that the issue should also be taken to the UN.

Tensions have been running high at the Al-Aqsa Mosque complex after Jewish extremists called on followers to storm the mosque during Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year.

For Muslims, Al-Aqsa represents the world's third holiest site. Jews, for their part, refer to the area as the Temple Mount, claiming it was the site of two Jewish temples in ancient times.

Some extremist Jewish groups have called for the demolition of the Al-Aqsa Mosque so that a Jewish temple might be built in its place.

In September 2000, a visit to Al-Aqsa by controversial Israeli politician Ariel Sharon sparked what later became known as the Second Intifada – a popular uprising against the Israeli occupation in which thousands of Palestinians were killed.

Israel occupied East Jerusalem during the 1967 Middle East War. It later annexed the city in 1980, claiming it as the capital of the self-proclaimed Jewish state in a move never recognized by the international community.