Jerusalem Governorate

President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said on July 26 that the removal of metal detectors from the entrances to the Al-Aqsa mosque compound in Jerusalem's Old City was a right move but not enough. 

President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan urged Israeli security forces to avoid using violence in the fresh unrest at a holy site in the Old City of Jerusalem and act in line with international law and fundamental human values on July 23.

Turkey's foreign minister held a phone conversation on July 21 with his Palestinian counterpart about the recent tension after Israeli officials imposed restrictions on Jerusalem's Al-Aqsa compound. 

According to diplomatic sources, Turkey's Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu and Riyad al-Malki discussed recent developments there. 

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas says the Palestinian leadership will freeze all contact with Israel as mass protests over new Israeli security measures rage at the al-Aqsa Mosque compound.

At least three Palestinians were killed and hundreds more injured on Friday.

As tensions mount in Jerusalem after new Israeli security measures at the highly sensitive Al-Aqsa mosque in the Old City of Jerusalem, Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yıldırım has urged calm, stressing the Islamic world's sensitivity on the issue.      

"Their implementation is wrong," Yıldırım said about the Israeli measures.

Israeli police barred men under 50 from entering Jerusalem's Old City for Friday Muslim prayers as tensions rose and protests erupted over new security measures at a highly sensitive holy site.

Turkey has condemned Israel for proceeding with the approval process for additional units in "illegal settlements" in East Jerusalem, despite Palestinian and international opposition.

Israel has decried a UNESCO resolution rejecting its sovereignty over Jerusalem and condemning Israeli "archaeological excavations" in Jerusalem's Old City.

In a statement on July 5, the Israeli Foreign Ministry described the resolution as "irrelevant, absurd and pathetic."

The Israeli ambassador to the UK has named a British woman stabbed to death in Jerusalem as Hannah Bladon.

Israel’s ambassador to London Mark Regev tweeted: “My thoughts are with the family and friends of UK student Hannah Bladon, who was murdered in a senseless act of terror in Jerusalem today.”

Known in Hebrew as Yerushalayim and in Arabic as al-Quds, Jerusalem has the greatest number of sacred sites of any city on earth and is considered by many to be the center of the world.

It is one of the oldest cities in the world and it is of great significance for Christians, Jews and Muslims alike.