Turkey strongly condemned on Saturday the Israeli decision to close al-Aqsa Mosque and ban Friday prayer at the shrine for the first time since 1969.
For its part the Palestinian Scholars Abroad Association described the Israeli move as a “crime and a serious violation against all Muslims”.
Istanbul city witnessed a number of protests rejecting the Israeli decision issued on Friday in the wake of an anti-occupation attack in which two Israeli policemen were killed.
Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yıldırım in a press statement on Saturday described the Israeli decision as a “dangerous step”.
Protesting the closure of al-Aqsa Mosque the Palestinian Scholars Abroad Association held a press conference in Istanbul in which the Jerusalem shooting attack was hailed.
The conference demanded Jordan the exclusive sponsor of the Islamic Awqaf (endowment) Department at al-Aqsa Mosque to act urgently against the escalating Israeli crimes.
It called on the Arab nation to launch marches in support of al-Aqsa and announced next Friday “a day of anger”.
The scholars decried the Palestinian Authority president Mahmoud Abbas’s condemnation of the Jerusalem attack in a call with the Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
On the popular level hundreds of activists participated in a protest organized by the Anadolu Youth Foundation in front of the Israeli consulate in Istanbul in rejection of closing al-Aqsa Mosque and banning Friday prayer.
