Turkey wants to boost tourism to occupied Palestine

Turkey's flag carrier airline has said it wants to boost tourism in Palestine, the Anadolu news agency reported on Sunday.

Turkish Airlines made the announcement after a meeting the Palestinian tourism minister in Bethlehem in the Israeli-occupied West Bank.

"The airliner is ready for cooperation that would facilitate to bring more tourists into Palestine," a Turkish Airlines senior official said.

Tourism to Palestine has been increasing in recent years in spite of the obstacles put in place by Israeli occupation.

The country was named as the fastest-growing tourist destination in 2017.

Three million tourists came to Palestine last year. The majority are Christian pilgrims visiting the city of Bethlehem - the supposed birthplace of Jesus Christ.

Palestinian officials also want to encourage Muslim tourists to come and visit east Jerusalem's Al-Aqsa mosque, which is the third most important shrine in Islam.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has recently encouraged Muslims to travel to Jerusalem to counter Washington's controversial decision to move its embassy to the divided city.

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