by Burak Akinci


ANKARA Cheap Air Max 2019 , July 24 (Xinhua) -- Turkey's President Erdogan called for an immediate action to end Israel's new restrictions at Al-Aqsa Mosque compound, said a recent written statement.


"Metal detectors and other restrictions should be immediately lifted and returned to the status quo. Everyone should be guard against provocations at this sensitive time," the Turkish president said in a written statement.


He also called for the international community to act to immediately end practices that restrict freedom of worships.


President Erdogan also has discussed al-Aqsa crisis with his Israeli and French counterparts, Reuven Rivlin and Emmanuel Macron via phone.


Turkish and French leaders agreed that they were concerned about the tensions, and agreed to work together to resolve the problem and ensure calm, according to Presidential sources.


"The fact that dialogue channels are open between Turkish and Israeli presidents is a good sign. It's a sign that Turkey believes in diplomacy to solve this crisis," commented political analyst Hakan Celik on CNN-Turk news channel.


Anger has spilled over across the West Bank since last week when Israel shut the Al-Aqsa Mosque, revered by both Muslims and Jews, who call it Temple Mount, following a deadly shootout. Three Israelis and at least three Palestinians have been killed in clashes.


The city of Jerusalem is sacred to all Muslim, Jews and Christians, and the Al Aqsa Mosque represents the Islamic world's third holiest site.


The mosque was reopened after a two-day closure, with Israel installing metal detectors at the mosque gates, which Palestinians said aim to change the status quo -- a delicate balance of prayer and visiting rights.


Israel, for its part, has refused to remove the detectors, claiming the security measures are similar to procedures taken at other holy sites around the world.


Several demonstrations were held these days across Turkey to denounce Israel. In Istanbul dozens people gathered around the main Jewish worship center, the Neve Shalom synagogue, on Thursday night, preventing the Jewish community to enter the site.


Some demonstrators kicked the door of the synagogue and threw objects at it, an incident that has been condemned by some reports as a "provocation."


The Ahrida synagogue located in the historic Balat neighborhood was also targeted by demonstrators.


In Ankara, some 200 demonstrators, waving the Palestinian flags and chanting Islamist slogans, gathered around the Israeli diplomatic mission on Friday after prayers to denounce "Zionism," in a respond to appeals for such a rally made by an Islamic NGO.


There are approximately 20,000 Jews live in Turkey, according to official figures.


On Monday, Israel announced closure of its embassy and consulates in Turkey for security reasons amid Al-Aqsa row and also in the aftermath of the attack at the embassy in Jordan, according to news reports.


Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim has also called on citizens to refrain staging political rallies outside synagogues.


"This is wrong. We do not approve of acts against the houses of worship of our Jewish citizens, and thus we urge moderation amount our citizens," he told reporters on Sunday while in a series of posts on social media he called on Israel to "right this wrong by heeding the Islamic world's sensitivities."


Israel and Turkey have had tumultuous relations since the creation of the Jewish state in 1948. They finally reconciled in 2016 ending a six-year rupture that was brought after Israeli marines stormed a Turkish aid ship in 2010 aiming to end the siege on Gaza and killed 10 Turkish activists on board.


Experts argue that the Al-Aqsa tension should be addressed with the outmost sensitivity by the international community otherwise it could blow in an outright crisis in a very volatile region of the world.


"Israel prefers to escalate things in order to take advantage of an historic opportunity in a context of a bloody Muslim geography," commented researcher Can Acun from the Ankara based think tank SETA, referring to the ongoing war in Syria and the feud between Gulf nations.


"While Muslims are killing each other, Israel profits from this conjecture to fulfill its ambitions," said the expert, indicating that the Muslim world should stay united against Israel in this controversy despite everything.


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