15 May 2018•Update: 15 May 2018
By Satuk Bugra Kutlugun
ANKARA
Turkey mourns for Palestinians martyred by Israeli army gunfire during Monday's anti-occupation rallies along the Gaza Strip’s eastern border.
Thousands of Palestinians gathered on the Gaza Strip’s eastern border since early Monday morning to take part in mass rallies to commemorate the Nakba anniversary and protest the relocation of the U.S. Embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.
According to the Palestinian Health Ministry, at least 60 Palestinian demonstrators have been martyred by cross-border Israeli gunfire in one of the deadliest single day massacres in the country's history.
Turkey's Consulate General in Jerusalem shared a picture of a half-mast Turkish flag in a Twitter post, saying that was in solidarity with the Palestinian people.
"#Turkish flag at the Consulate General in #Jerusalem flies half-mast in solidarity with the #Palestinian people. A three-day national mourning has been declared in #Turkey," read the post.
In all of 81 provinces in Turkey, flags were at half-mast Tuesday to display solidarity with Palestinian people.
In Adiyaman, Sanliurfa, Kilis, Gaziantep, Kahramanmaras and Malatya provinces, people on Tuesday took to streets to protest the killings by the Israeli army.
On Monday evening, thousands of people gathered in Istanbul’s Beyoglu district to protest the relocation of the U.S. Embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.
The demonstration was carried out under the banner “Speak up against occupation” by a number of non-governmental groups.
Protesters held banners reading "Jerusalem is Muslim", waving Turkish and Palestinian flags.
Another protest was held in the Turkish capital, Ankara, in front of the Israeli Embassy.
In response to an appeal from the Palestinian Red Crescent Society and the Health Ministry, the Turkish Red Crescent in Gaza and Jerusalem provided emergency medical supplies worth $100,000 for the injured Palestinians being treated at overwhelmed hospitals in the besieged Gaza Strip, officials from the Turkish aid group said Tuesday.
Separately, people in seven different Turkish cities took to the streets to condemn the killings at Gaza border.
People in Turkish metropolitan cities of Bursa, Balikesir, Bilecik, Canakkale, Eskisehir, Kutahya, and Yalova gathered in mosques and city center squares to show solidarity with Palestinians.
The participants chanted slogans against Israel and organized special prayers for the Palestinians.
