Palestinian president to visit Turkey next week

ANKARA

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas will make an official visit to Turkey on Aug. 28, presidential spokesman announced Wednesday.

Abbas will meet President Recep Tayyip Erdogan during the visit, İbrahim Kalin told Anadolu Agency.

The two leaders will discuss the recent developments in Al-Aqsa and Jerusalem alongside the peace process in Palestine, Kalin said.

Last month, Israel imposed fresh security measures at Al-Aqsa Mosque following the killing of two police officers at the site. The measures, including metal detectors and cameras, led to renewed violence between Palestinians and security forces, sparking outrage across the Muslim world.

Separately, blockaded by Israel -- by air, land and sea -- since 2007, the Gaza Strip has seven border crossings linking it to the outside world.

Six of these are controlled by Israel, while the seventh -- the Rafah crossing -- is controlled by Egypt, which keeps it tightly sealed for the most part since the ouster of Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi in a 2013 military coup.

Israel sealed four of its commercial crossings with Gaza in June 2007 after Palestinian group Hamas wrested control of the strip from the West Bank-based Palestinian Authority.

*Reporting by Emre Aytekin; Writing by Cansu Dikme