Israeli police arrest young Turkish woman at Jerusalem’s Al-Aqsa complex

By Anadolu Staff

JERUSALEM (AA) - Israeli police reportedly detained a young Turkish woman on Tuesday from inside the Al-Aqsa Mosque complex in occupied East Jerusalem.

Ozgecan Mutlu, 24, was reciting from the Quran, Islam’s holy book, when an Israeli policeman seized her bag to move her away from Bab al-Rahma Gate, east of the mosque, according to an Anadolu reporter.

Mutlu was then taken into custody when she tried to chase the policeman to get her bag back, the reporter said.

There was no comment yet from Israeli police on the incident.

On Monday, Israeli police stormed the Bab al-Rahma prayer hall inside the mosque complex and prevented worshippers from performing prayers. The raid came after police officers prevented renovation work at the site on Saturday.

Tension has been running high across East Jerusalem since earlier this month when Israeli police forcibly removed Muslim worshippers from inside the Al-Aqsa Mosque during the Islamic holy month of Ramadan.

For Muslims, Al-Aqsa represents the world’s third-holiest site. Jews call the area the Temple Mount, saying it was the site of two ancient Jewish temples.

Israel occupied East Jerusalem, where Al-Aqsa is located, during the 1967 Arab-Israeli War. It annexed the entire city in 1980, in a move never recognized by the international community.

*Writing by Ahmed Asmar in Ankara