JERUSALEM - Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan visited Temple Mount in Israel on Monday.
On the second day of his tour of Israel, Erdogan firstly met Israeli Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom.
Erdogan later visited Temple Mount (Haram al-Sharif) which is known as Noble Sanctuary to Muslims. Erdogan also visited Al-Aqsa Mosque which is the third holiest site for Muslims. (The site, which once held the biblical Jewish Temples and now holds Al Aqsa, is claimed by both Jews and Muslims.)
Erdogan also visited Dome of the Rock (Qubbat al-Sakhra).
Turkish State Minister Besir Atalay, Energy & Natural Resources Minister Hilmi Guler, National Defense Minister Vecdi Gonul, Agriculture & Rural Affairs Minister Sami Guclu, Industry & Trade Minister Ali Coskun and several parliamentarians accompanied Erdogan.
Dome of the Rock, known in Arabic as Qubbat al-Sakhra, is not a mosque for public worship but rather a mashhad, a shrine for pilgrims. Adjacent to the Dome is the Al-Aqsa Mosque wherein Muslims make their prayers. The Dome of the Rock was the greatest monumental building in early Islamic history. The dome is 20 meters high, 10 meters in diameter, and its supporting structure, made of lead, was originally covered in pure gold.