Turkey condemns Israel’s 'illegal settelements'

ANKARA (AA) - Turkey's Foreign Ministry has condemned Israel's approval for 770 new settlements in Israel-occupied East Jerusalem.

"These kinds of settlement activities, which destroy ground for a two-state solution will not be accepted in any way," the ministry said in a statement Tuesday.

International law views the West Bank and East Jerusalem as "occupied territories," considering all Jewish settlement building on the land illegal.

About 500,000 Israelis now live in more than 100 Jewish-only settlements built since Israel occupied the West Bank and East Jerusalem in 1967. The Palestinians want these areas, along with the Gaza Strip, in which to establish their future state.

Palestinian negotiators insist that Israeli settlement building on Arab land must stop before a comprehensive peace agreement can be reached.