PodcastIsraeli diplomat says Turkey didn't contact Israel after recent tensions
Senior Israeli diplomat Irit Lillian has said that Turkey didn't contact Israel after the recent escalation of tensions. She also noted that no contacts had been in place before the latest events.
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A senior Israeli diplomat has said that Turkey didn't contact Israel after the recent flare-up of tensions between Palestinians and her home country.
Irit Lillian, the charge d'affairs of the Israeli Embassy in Ankara, also said that no contact had been in place before the recent events.
"Turkey hasn't contacted Israel since the beginning of the last operations. There were no contacts before the operation over reasons known," Lillian told a group of Turkish journalists, the daily Cumhuriyet reported on May 17.
Tensions have been running high in the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood of East Jerusalem and at the Al-Aqsa Mosque since the Muslim holy month of Ramadan as Israeli forces and settlers assaulted Palestinians.
The tensions spread from East Jerusalem to Gaza after Palestinian groups there vowed to retaliate against Israeli assaults on the Al-Aqsa Mosque and Sheikh Jarrah if they were not halted.
The fiercest hostilities in the region in years entered their second week, with scores of Palestinians, including nearly 60 children, being killed by Israel.
Separately, a total of 350 artists, academics, activists and deputies have called on all countries, mainly Turkey, that has economic relations with Israel to put economic and diplomatic pressure on the country.
In a written statement, the group said that Israel continues attacks against Palestinians through occupation and massacres.
"It's clear that words against Israel without any economic and political sanctions are ineffective towards the oppression suffered by the Palestinians," they said, as they also slammed the Turkish government for not doing enough.
"We, as the people who support peace, announce that we stand with the struggle of Palestinians. We condemn the Israeli regime and call on it to end its militarist and occupying practices," they added.
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