CAIRO, July 23 (Xinhua) -- Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry and his Turkish counterpart Mevlut Cavusoglu on Sunday discussed over the phone the recent Israeli violations at the Al-Aqsa Mosque in East Jerusalem.
In the phone call initiated by Cavusoglu, the two ministers held consultation over "the deteriorating situation in occupied Jerusalem and the Israeli attacks against Palestinian civilians," Egyptian Foreign Ministry's spokesman Ahmed abu Zeid told diplomatic reporters.
Zeid explained that the call is meant to coordinate the possible measures that could be taken by Organization of Islamic Cooptation (OIC) members over Israeli violations at the Al-Aqsa Mosque. Turkey is the current president of the OIC, of which Egypt is a member.
The OIC is to hold an emergency meeting of its Committee of Permanent Representatives on Monday in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, to discuss the latest developments at the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound.
The relations between Egypt and Turkey have been strained since the Egyptian army ousted former Islamist president Mohamed Morsi in July 2013. Turkey condemned the Egyptian move and hosted fleeing members of Morsi's currently-outlawed Muslim Brotherhood.
Tensions between Israel and Palestinians have been rising since July 14 when the Israel installed checkpoints and metal detectors at the entrances of the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound after three Israeli Arab gunmen shot dead two Israeli policemen near the site. The three were later killed by the Israeli police.
Since then, daily clashes erupted between Israeli security forces and Palestinian protesters at the site's gates. On Friday, three Palestinians were killed and hundreds of others were wounded in violent clashes with Israeli forces.
The Al-Aqsa Mosque compound, revered by Jews as the Temple Mount, is the third holiest site in Islam and the holiest site for Jews. It has been a flashpoint site for Israeli-Palestinian conflict in the past decades since the 1967 Israeli occupation of East Jerusalem.
