The Israeli Foreign Ministry on Tuesday summoned Turkish Ambassador to the country Kemal Okem for clarification following Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s claims that Israel undermined Muslim traditions in Jerusalem, The Jerusalem Post newspaper reported. On Monday, Erdogan, speaking at the Al-Quds Forum in Istanbul, urged more Muslims to visit the Al-Aqsa mosque — one of the major religious sites of Muslims, located on a hill called Temple Mount in Jerusalem. He also criticized a pending legislation in the Israeli parliament to ban the Adhan — the Muslim call to prayer.
In response to Erdogan’s comments, the Israeli Foreign Ministry said on Monday that those who “systematically violate human rights in their own country should not preach to the only true democracy in the region.”
The incident comes less than a year after Israel and Turkey concluded a deal to normalize diplomatic relations in the wake of a clash over a Turkish aid flotilla to Gaza in 2010.