ANKARA 15 Sep (ANA) — Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's announcement of his intention to annex areas of the West Bank following next week's elections shows Israel is becoming a "racist, apartheid regime", Turkey's foreign minister was quoted as saying on Sunday.

Netanyahu said on Tuesday he would annex the Jordan Valley, a swathe of the occupied West Bank that Israel captured in 1967 and which Palestinians want as part of a future state. The move alarmed Middle Eastern nations, European powers and Arab foreign ministers.

On Saturday, Turkey's foreign ministry said the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) would convene in Jeddah on Sunday to discuss Netanyahu's statement.

Speaking in Jeddah, Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said Netanyahu's "embarrassing" plan was a "despicable" attempt to earn votes ahead of Tuesday's election, and criticized what he called a lack of reaction from other Muslim countries.(FA)