Presidency's Director of Communications Fahrettin Altun said, "As Türkiye, we will continue to support the just cause of Palestinian people, as in the past. We will support Palestine and stand by our oppressed Palestinian brothers and sisters in the future as well. Our President's commitment and our nation's resolute stance on the issue are loud and clear. We will sustain our vigorous and wholehearted efforts to establish peace and tranquillity in our region."
Speaking at a broadcast by the TRT Haber via a phone conversation, Director of Communications Altun criticised Israeli police officers' attacks on the congregation in the Al-Aqsa Mosque in the occupied East Jerusalem's Old City district.
Underlining that the Israeli attacks against Palestinians and Al-Aqsa Mosque are utterly unacceptable, Altun stated that they vehemently condemned and denounced Israel's heinous attacks against the sacred values and its policy of invasion and violence against Palestinians.
Altun said that an increase in the number of such attacks prior to the Laylat al-Qadr during the Muslims' holy month of Ramadan also confirmed the intentional nature of those attacks and made the following remarks:
"Attacking innocent worshippers is blatant terrorism. Something has been unfolding in front of the world's very eyes, and there has been an occupation progressing step by step since 1948. Today, the living spaces and social domains of our Palestinian brothers and sisters are unfortunately under attack in a planned manner, and their physical existence is under serious threat.
We see that these attacks on Palestinians are against the most fundamental human rights. In fact, the whole world sees it, but unfortunately, the majority of the world, especially the Western world, plays three monkeys, so to speak, and remains silent. This is unacceptable. There are borders drawn as a result of the resolutions by the United Nations in the past. These are transgressed at every opportunity, and Israel continues its invasion attempt without pausing. I believe that the price of this unlawfulness will be paid."
"If we want to achieve permanent peace, the only way is to establish an independent Palestinian state with East Jerusalem as its capital"
"As our President emphasised, if we want to achieve permanent peace in the Middle East, the only way to ensure this is to establish an independent Palestinian state, based on the borders of 1967, with East Jerusalem as its capital," said Director of Communications Altun.
Altun underlined that the Palestinian families' houses in the Eastern Jerusalem neighbourhood of Sheikh Jarrah, occupied by Israel, had been seized, and Jews were resettled there, adding that this was neither legal nor conscientious.
Altun said, "We ask the Western world, the Western states that have remained silent: Don't you have anything to say? We do. We ask you: Are the law and justice only legitimate when it comes to you and your interests? Is the law just the right of those who turn a blind eye to such unlawfulness? This isn't even a matter of double standards; this is outright villainy and oppression. We are asking when our Palestinian sisters and brothers, who have been murdered by Israel, will be brought to the attention of the international community."
"Does press freedom only apply to Western journalists?"
Altun indicated that over 50 Palestinians, as well as Anadolu Agency's (AA) Middle East News Editor Turgut Alp Boyraz, were wounded in Israel's attack on the Al-Aqsa Mosque and wished them a speedy recovery, adding, "Israel has also targeted Anadolu Agency in the past. Isn't now the appropriate time to pose the question to the whole world? Do press freedom and journalistic immunity, which you defend at every available opportunity, only apply to Western journalists in the Western world?"
Director of Communications Fahrettin Altun noted the following:
"As Türkiye, we will continue to support the just cause of Palestinian people, as in the past. We will support Palestine and stand by our oppressed Palestinian brothers and sisters in the future as well. Our President's commitment and our nation's resolute stance on the issue are loud and clear. We will sustain our vigorous and wholehearted efforts to establish peace and tranquillity in our region."
We are the descendants of an ancestry who had the good fortune of justly serving Jerusalem for 400 years. We will always stand by Palestine. Al-Quds ash-Sharif is our red line. That is something we want to emphasise once more in front of the whole world. On every occasion, our President emphasised this point, overtly and distinctly, even shouting it from the United Nations rostrum."
"Islamic world's amity and unity will grow even stronger"
Congratulating the Laylat al-Qadr and the approaching Eid al-Fitr of Palestinian citizens, Altun said, "Come what may, the Islamic world's amity and unity will grow even stronger. The Palestinian cause is the essential cause of the Islamic world. In that sense, I believe these attacks will be a means to strengthen Muslims' endurance. God willing, we will break this oppressive order, the status quo, all together and celebrate more prosperous Eids as the Islamic world.".
Underlining that President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan had repeatedly stressed his objection to this order, and besides his objections to Israel's oppression and made strenuous efforts to ensure that Türkiye also played an order-building role in the region, Altun noted, "In addition, he has objected to the functioning of the entire world system, as well as injustices in the global arena, and suggested alternative solutions. We will maintain this vigour, God willing, under the leadership of our President."