TURKEY: Turkey and the Arab League criticise Israel over new plans to expand settlements in the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem

Record ID: 397613

  • Title: TURKEY: Turkey and the Arab League criticise Israel over new plans to expand settlements in the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem
  • Date: 1st December 2012
  • Summary: ISTANBUL, TURKEY (DECEMBER 1, 2012) (REUTERS) SECRETARY GENERAL OF THE ARAB LEAGUE NABIL ELARABY, TURKISH FOREIGN MINISTER AHMET DAVUTOGLU, AND LEBANESE FOREIGN MINISTER ADNAN MANSOUR ARRIVING FOR A NEWS CONFERENCE CAMERAMEN FILMING (SOUNDBITE) (Turkish) TURKISH FOREIGN MINISTER AHMET DAVUTOGLU SAYING: "While the international community paves the way for peace by recognis
  • Embargoed: 16th December 2012 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Turkey
  • Country: Turkey
  • Topics: International Relations,Politics
  • Reuters ID: LVA79GVB8DNE09PPT15RJ4UN45YD
  • Story Text: Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu and Secretary General of the Arab League Nabil Elaraby on Saturday (December 1) denounced Israel's plan to build thousands of new homes for its settlers in the occupied Palestinian territories.
    Israel announced on Friday (November 30) that it was authorising 3,000 new settler homes in the West Bank and East Jerusalem.
    Davutoglu said that would run counter to international efforts to resolve the conflict.
    "While the international community paves the way for peace by recognising Palestine as a state, Israel is trying to reinforce its invasion by insisting on old policies," he told a news conference after a Turkish-Arab League meeting in Istanbul.
    "We would like to call on the world and Israel: no matter how many settlement projects come up, the West Bank and Gaza belong to Palestinians under the 1967 charter," he added.
    Israel's announcement came just hours after the United Nations General Assembly voted overwhelmingly to grant de-facto statehood to Palestine.
    The chief of the Arab League, Elaraby, condemned Israel's plan.
    "Israel is aiming to extend its territory and has been occupying that territory since 1967 and they have been refusing the decisions and resolutions of the United Nations," he said.
    Approximately 500,000 Israelis and 2.5 million Palestinians live in the West Bank and East Jerusalem.
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
  • Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2012. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
  • Usage Terms/Restrictions: None
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