Thousands of Turks gathered in front of the Israeli embassy in Ankara and its consulate in Istanbul on Monday to protest against Israeli measures against the Palestinians.
Despite the general isolation measures imposed to curb the spread of the Corona virus, protesters in Istanbul, including Palestinians and Syrians, carried Palestinian flags and chanted, “To Gaza … Israel falls and America falls.”
Earlier, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan contacted several leaders in the Middle East to discuss the escalating violence.
Erdogan spoke by phone with King Abdullah of Jordan, the Emir of Kuwait, Sheikh Nawaf Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, and Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh. Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu discussed the issue with his counterparts in Iran, Algeria, Pakistan and Russia.
Erdogan’s office said in a statement that the Turkish president told the Jordanian monarch that the “brutal” attacks on the Palestinians were targeting all Muslims, adding that Turkey and Jordan should work together to stop them.
Clashes escalated dramatically in Jerusalem on Monday. Gaza health officials said at least 20 people, including nine children, were killed in Israeli air strikes after Palestinian armed groups launched rockets near Jerusalem.
Source: Reuters