Turkey condemns new Israeli settlements in E. Jerusalem

Turkey, through its Foreign Ministry, condemned on Tuesday the building of Israeli settlements in East Jerusalem. The Turkish Foreign Ministry released a statement criticizing the Israel''s contradicting position from the peace process. In the statement it said that at the time when Israel is inviting the Palestinians to negotiations, the Israeli authorities are building 900 settlements in East Jerusalem. Based on Obama''s Arab spring speech, East Jerusalem will be the capital of Palestine if the two parties agree on a two state solution where Palestine''s borders are those of June 4th 1967. The Turkish Foreign Ministry called on Israel to respond to the calls of the international community and stop the building of illegal settlements, particularly in East Jerusalem. It warned that increasing settlements weakens the trust and therefore peace efforts.