site.btaTight Security Measures at Turkish Parliament for Mahmoud Abbas Address

Security measures in the Turkish Parliament are at the highest level on Thursday because of a special emergency session which is to be addressed by Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, the Anka news agency reported. Visits to the Majlis by non-official invitees have been cancelled.

The Parliament, which is in recess, was summoned by Speaker Numan Kurtulmuş, to hear Mahmoud Abbas, who arrived yesterday on a visit to Ankara where he held talks with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

Abbas has asked to speak from a seated position for health reasons but the request was rejected by the Majlis leadership and he will speak standing on the parliamentary rostrum, Anka news agency said quoting parliamentary sources.

The special parliamentary session is scheduled to begin at 3 pm Thursday.

Abbas is expected to address in his speech Israel's attacks on the Palestinian territories. The speech is expected to last half an hour and be translated into English, Turkish and French.

The Turkish President will attend the parliamentary session accompanied by cabinet ministers.