Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government has added two shrines in the West Bank to Israel’s list of national heritage sites. The move, announced last month, has sparked Palestinian protests and has drawn criticism from other quarters, including the United Nations.
“Al-Aqsa mosque, the Cave of Patriarchs and Rachel’s Tomb will never be Jewish sites, but rather Islamic ones,” Erdoğan was quoted as saying in remarks published on Sunday in Saudi newspaper Al Wattan. His remarks, made during a meeting with Palestinian reporters, were republished by the Israeli media.
Voicing support for the Arab League’s decision to promote indirect talks between Israel and the Palestinians through US mediation, Erdoğan added: “Our withdrawal from the negotiating table will not contribute to our interests, but our determined and unchanging stance is very important. We must fight for our right to be united and protect this right. Sitting at the negotiating table does not mean failure, and the power of the negotiators will deliver us to the outcome we hoped for.”
Ankara had already warned last month that the announcement by Israeli authorities that certain historic sites in the West Bank, some of which are of importance to the Islamic world, will be accorded “Israeli cultural heritage” status would create serious distrust between parties. The Foreign Ministry stated that it would harm the intensified efforts made in this critical period to revive the negotiations for the settlement of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, which has been a source of grief for the people of the region for years.
Reiterating Turkey’s constant call to bring the siege of the Gaza Strip to an end, he said: “I always say that Palestine is an open-air prison and the entrance of a case of tomatoes into this prison requires Israel’s approval. Can we speak of human rights in such a state?” Erdoğan, meanwhile, also called on the Palestinians to end the rift between Hamas and Fatah.
