On Saturday, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan made a phone call to his Israeli counterpart , Isaac Herzog , to express his concern about the Israeli police raids on Al-Aqsa Mosque in East Jerusalem.

During the phone call, Erdogan told the Israeli president that Turkey could in no way remain silent about "provocations and threats to the status quo and the spirituality of Al-Aqsa Mosque," the Turkish presidency said in a statement.

The Turkish president said that Israel should not allow tensions, which have already spread to the Gaza Strip and Lebanon, to escalate at that sensitive time as the holy month of Ramadan coincides with the Jewish holiday of Passover.

Erdogan stressed the need to prevent the recurrence of clashes during the month of Ramadan every year, saying that Turkey "is ready to play its role in addressing the problem from its roots, and to take steps towards establishing a just and lasting peace."