(AFP) - Turkey on Monday denounced as "unacceptable" and an "insult" a bill being discussed in the Knesset to limit the loudness of calls to prayer at mosques.
Turkish Deputy Prime Minister Numan Kurtulmus said that for centuries the Islamic call to prayer, church bells and Jewish prayers had mixed together in multi-faith Jerusalem. "This is something on which there can be no compromise," Kurtulmus, who is chief government spokesman, said after a cabinet meeting. "It's absolutely unacceptable. He added, "It's an insult to the culture, past and history of Jerusalem. It makes no sense and is contrary to freedom of belief."