Erdoğan: ‘Israel must stop this baseness, barbarism’

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has condemned Israel's violation of Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem, by saying that, "The Israeli government must stop this baseness, barbarism." He made the comments during his visit to Turkmenistan on Friday.

Al-Aqsa Mosque is not only Palestinians' shrine but is also a shrine across the whole Muslim world, Erdoğan said to the press. "This action against Al-Aqsa Mosque can never be forgiven."

A group of Israeli security forces and a number of Jewish settlers stormed the mosque compound on Wednesday.

A Palestinian guard at the complex said the Israeli security forces stormed the compound's courtyards through the Magharbeh and al-Silsila gates and began shooting randomly at the worshippers and religious students, leaving scores injured.

The violence came as several extremist Jewish groups called for mass intrusions into Al-Aqsa Mosque after the shooting a week ago of a rabbi, Yehuda Glick, who many considered to have extremist views, in Jerusalem by a Palestinian man.

During the attack, heavily armed Israeli security forces entered the mosque with their boots on, beat up Palestinians who were protesting their presence and threw around copies of the Quran in the mosque, according to an Anadolu Agency reporter.

Several international reporters and cameramen were also hit by rubber bullets, stun grenades and tear gas used by Israeli security forces against the Palestinians outside the complex.

Many of them, including an AA correspondent, were injured after being physically assaulted by security forces.

Al-Aqsa represents the Islam's third holiest site for Muslims, while it is the Temple Mount for Jews, who believe it to have been the site of two Jewish temples in ancient times.