ANKARA
Turkey has condemned Israel's land grab in northeastern Jerusalem and its commencement of a residential construction project of 1,060 new homes.
According to Israeli media, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ordered plans for another 1,060 Jewish-only housing units in East Jerusalem to be expedited on Monday.
Turkey's Foreign Ministry denounced the Israeli project through a statement on Tuesday which claimed that the housing project is not valid according to international laws.
"We expect Israel to stop their unlawful actions," the ministry warned in their statement.
In early October, the Israeli government also approved the seizure of 5,000 thousand square meters of Palestinian land in the Givat HaMatos neighborhood in northeastern Jerusalem, in order to widen a road leading to a Jewish-only settlement.
According to the 2012 publication of an Israeli non-governmental organization website called Terrestrial Jerusalem, the Givat HaMatos project is divided into four statutory plans.
The plan starts with 2,610 residential units, continues with the construction of another 549 units for plan B, 813 units for plan C and will be completed with 1,100 hotel rooms.
Israel occupied East Jerusalem during the 1967 Arab-Israeli War.
It later annexed Jerusalem in 1980, claiming it as the capital of the self-proclaimed Jewish state – a move never recognized by the international community.
Sacred to both Muslims and Jews, Jerusalem is home to the Al-Aqsa Mosque, the third holiest site in Islam.
www.aa.com.tr/en
