Turkey's President Erdogan condemns police raid at Al-Aqsa mosque

Ankara, Turkey: Turkey condemned the violence that erupted inside Jerusalem’s flashpoint Al-Aqsa mosque on Wednesday, with President Recep Tayyip Erdogan declaring that Israel had crossed a “red line.”

“Turkey cannot stay silent in the face of these attacks. Trampling on the Al-Aqsa mosque is our red line,” Erdogan said during a dinner for those breaking daytime fasting, a practice for the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.

“Palestinians are not alone,” he added.

Israeli police battled with Palestinians within Jerusalem’s holy site on Wednesday, resulting in an exchange of rockets and air strikes as the Jewish Passover coincided with Ramadan.

Erdogan’s remarks followed criticism from his Foreign Minister, Mevlut Cavusoglu.

“We condemn these attacks,” Cavusoglu said on the margins of a NATO gathering in Brussels.

“Normalisation with Israel has begun, but our commitment cannot be at the expense of the Palestinian cause and our principles,” he added, noting that “these attacks have exceeded the limit”.

Armed cops in riot gear raided the mosque’s prayer hall before daybreak, hoping to dislodge “law-breaking youths and masked agitators” who had locked themselves inside after evening prayers.

The Al-Aqsa mosque compound, also known as the Temple Mount by Jews, is a place revered by both Islam and Judaism in the Old City of Israeli-annexed east Jerusalem. It has long been a flashpoint in Israeli-Palestinian relations.

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