*UPDATES WITH AL-MALIKI'S REMARKS
By Diyar Guldogan
ANKARA (AA) - Palestine and Jerusalem are Turkey's "red line", the Turkish foreign minister said Thursday.
"Turkey always stands with its Palestinian brothers. Palestine and Jerusalem are our red line," Mevlut Cavusoglu said at a news conference in Ankara alongside Palestinian counterpart Riyad al-Maliki.
The conference was held following the first meeting of the Turkey-Palestine joint committee.
Stressing Ankara’s continued support for Palestine, Cavusoglu said the joint committee’s next meeting would be held in Ramallah, the Palestinian government’s administrative capital.
Al-Maliki, for his part, said, “We can confront all threats with Turkey's support.”
“Our people are determined to end the occupation and determine their own destinies,” the Palestinian FM added.
He went on to thank Turkey for its ongoing political, humanitarian and financial support for Palestine.
According to al-Maliki, the Palestinian leadership is working closely with Turkey with a view to filling the vacuum caused by a recent U.S. decision to cut funding for the UN’s Palestinian refugee agency (UNRWA).
Established in 1949, UNRWA provides aid to some five million Palestinian refugees throughout the region.