Erdogan, King Abudullah discuss Al-Aqsa Mosque row

Following the Monday meeting held in Amman, both Erdogan and Abdullah, who is the custodian of the al-Aqsa Mosque Compound in Palestine, expressed the "unequivocal rejection of any attempt to change the legal and historical situation in the al-Aqsa mosque and any unilateral Israeli action threatening the identity of east Jerusalem."

On July 14, Israeli authorities imposed restrictions on Palestinians' entry into the al-Aqsa Mosque compound following a deadly shooting incident there.

Palestinians then began to hold daily protests outside the compound, and many of them refused to enter the compound for some two weeks and prayed in the streets around the Old City.

Following days of demonstrations and international condemnations, Israel finally backed down and began to remove the installed barriers, scaffoldings, high-tech cameras and metal detectors it had installed there, prompting Palestinians to celebrate on July 27.

Erdogan and Abdullah also called for “resumption of serious and effective negotiations between the Palestinians and Israel to end the conflict on the basis of a two-state solution to assure an independent Palestinian state with June 1967 borders and east Jerusalem as capital."

"New peace negotiations must take place according to a precise timetable and be based on international resolutions," they said, according to a statement released by the Jordanian royal palace.

The last round of the so-called peace talks between Israelis and Palestinians collapsed in April 2014. Tel Aviv’s settlement activities were among major reasons behind the failure of the talks.

Israeli settlements are considered illegal under international law as they are built on the occupied territories.

KD