Ankara: The Turkish Ministry of Foreign Affairs expressed its condemnation of the provocative Israeli practices at Al Aqsa Mosque, considering them “an embodiment of the ongoing genocide against the Palestinian people.”

According to National Iraqi News Agency, in a statement issued on Monday, the Turkish Ministry of Foreign Affairs affirmed its condemnation of “the storming of Al Aqsa Mosque by a member of the Israeli government, the raising of the flag of the occupying state inside the mosque by a member of the Israeli parliament, and the provocative acts carried out by extremist settlers during a march held in Al Quds.”

The statement added that “such actions are an embodiment of the policies of genocide and forced displacement pursued by Israel against the Palestinian people.” It indicated that these practices also reflect Israel’s ongoing attempts “to change the historical and demographic identity of the occupied Palestinian territories and annex them.”

The Turkish Foreign Ministry affirmed in its statement that these attempts by the government of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu “will never change the historical and legal status of Al Aqsa Mosque.”

Earlier on Monday, Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir, accompanied by officials and more than 2,092 Israeli settlers, stormed the Al Aqsa Mosque compound. The incursion took place through the Mughrabi Gate in the western wall of Al Aqsa Mosque, coinciding with the anniversary of the occupation of East Quds in 1967 according to the Hebrew calendar.

In a video he filmed in the Al Aqsa compound and posted on the X platform, Ben Gvir said that he was accompanied during the incursion by Minister of the Negev and Galilee, Yitzhak Wasserlauf, and Knesset member from the Jewish Power party, Yitzhak Kroizer.

Since 2003, the Israeli police have unilaterally allowed settlers to enter the mosque through the Mughrabi Gate in the western wall of the mosque, with incursions increasing significantly during Jewish holidays and celebrations. The Islamic Endowments Department in Al Quds, affiliated with the Jordanian Ministry of Endowments, is demanding an end to the raids, but without any response from the Israeli authorities.