Turkish FM reportedly wants to visit Temple Mount

Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavusoglu wants to visit the Temple Mount during his upcoming trip to Israel, which could occur as early as this week, according to KAN News.

The Foreign Ministry said that details about an upcoming Çavusoglu visit were “not yet closed” and that therefore it had no response to the report.

It is unusual for a visiting dignitary to Israel to also visit the Temple Mount, known to Muslims as al-Haram, al-Sharif. The Islamic Wakf, which administers the site, has said that it has no details of such a visit.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has been a vocal advocate for Palestinian sovereignty over east Jerusalem, including the Temple Mount, where al-Aqsa Mosque compound is located.

According to Kan, Çavusoglu wants to visit the Temple Mount without Israeli officials or security. It’s a move that would be taken as a subtle recognition of Palestinian sovereignty over the site.

Such a visit is likely to increase tension regarding the volatile site.

Çavusoglu spoke last month of visiting Israel to continue thawing relations which began with President Isaac Herzog’s visit to Istanbul in March. It was the first top-level visit since that of then-prime minister Ehud Olmert in 2008, two years before the Mavi Marmara flotilla incident.

The foreign minister planned, among other things, to discuss the reposting of ambassadors to embassies in Ankara and Tel Aviv.

Energy Minister Fatih Donmez was slated to arrive with Çavusoglu. Turkey has been interested in a natural gas joint pipeline that could provide Europe with an alternative to dependence on Russia.