Turkish
President Recep Tayyip Erdogan expressed hope on Sunday that Turkey
would soon be able to open an embassy to a Palestinian state in East
Jerusalem, as he again denounced Donald Trump's recognition of the city
as the Israeli capital.
Erdogan has sought to lead Islamic condemnation of his United States counterpart's move, calling a summit of the leaders of Muslim nations last week in Istanbul who urged the world to recognise East Jerusalem as the Palestinian capital.
East
Jerusalem was annexed by Israel after it seized control of the area in
the 1967 war, in a move never recognised by the international community.
“Because it is under occupation we can't just go there
and open an embassy,” Erdogan said in a speech to his ruling party in
the city of Karaman.
“But, God willing those days are
near and... we will officially open our embassy there,” he said, without
giving any precise timescale.
Turkey currently has a
general consulate in Jerusalem. Ankara has full diplomatic ties with
Israel, and like all other nations, its embassy is in Tel Aviv.
Erdogan
again slammed his US counterpart's decision to declare Jerusalem the
capital of Israel and move the US embassy in Israel to the city, saying
it smacked of a “Zionist and evangelist logic and understanding.”
He said Jews had no right to “appropriate” Jerusalem which was the the “capital of Muslims”.
“Please
stop where you are and don't attempt any Zionist operation,” he said.
“If you try, then the price is going to be high.” Erdogan hailed the
outcome of the December 13 summit which he said showed the “world a vote
of unity”.
However the meeting was shadowed by the
level of attendance from close US allies Saudi Arabia and the United
Arab Emirates, who sent lower-level officials rather than leaders.
In
a speech on the eve of the summit, Erdogan had warned Muslims against
“internecine warfare” and “attacks to bring down Muslims from within”
saying fighting with each other “only helps terror states like Israel”.
Israel
has reacted relatively cooly to Erdogan's repeated broadsides over the
last days, although Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he was “not
impressed” by statements made at the summit.
