Türkiye, Qatar reiterate condemnation of Israeli provocation at Al-Aqsa mosque

In a Wednesday phone call, the top Turkish and Qatari diplomats both repeated their denunciation of yesterday's provocation at Al-Aqsa Mosque by Israel's new national security minister, said an official Turkish statement.

Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu and his Qatari counterpart Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani discussed Tuesday's "raid on Al-Aqsa Mosque and recent developments in Syria and Afghanistan," said the Turkish Foreign Ministry.

"During the phone call, the Ministers reiterated their condemnation regarding the provocative act of Itamar Ben-Gvir, Minister of National Security of Israel, at Al-Aqsa Mosque yesterday," said the ministry.

Adding that the two officials also exchanged views on developments in Syria, it said Çavuşoğlu and Al Thani expressed "their mutual concern about the Afghan (Taliban) Caretaker Government's recent ban on women's access to education and their exclusion from certain areas of work in Afghanistan."

Çavuşoğlu also "congratulated his counterpart for the successful organization of 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar." Turkish forces also helped provide security during the event, the first-ever World Cup hosted by a Muslim and Arab nation.

On Tuesday, despite warnings that doing so would stir unrest, Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir visited the Al-Aqsa Mosque complex.

For Muslims, Al-Aqsa represents the world's third-holiest site. Jews, for their part, call the area the Temple Mount, saying it was the site of two Jewish temples in ancient times.

Israel occupied East Jerusalem, where al-Aqsa is located, during the 1967 Arab-Israeli War. It annexed the entire city in 1980, in a move never recognized by the international community.