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| Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan |
Turkey intends to open an embassy in East Jerusalem, President Tayyip Erdogan said on Sunday, days after leading calls at a summit of Muslim leaders for the world to recognise it as the capital of Palestine.
It was not clear how he would carry out the move, as Israel controls all of Jerusalem and calls the city its indivisible capital. Palestinians want the capital of a future state they seek to be in East Jerusalem, which Israel took in a 1967 war and later annexed in a move not recognised internationally.
The Muslim nation summit was a response to U.S. President Donald Trumpโs Dec. 6 decision to recognise Jerusalem as Israelโs capital. His move broke with decades of U.S. policy and international consensus that the cityโs status must be left to Israeli-Palestinian peace negotiations.
Erdogan said in a speech to members of his AK Party in the southern province of Karaman that Turkeyโs consulate general in Jerusalem was already represented by an ambassador.
โGod willing, the day is close when officially, with Godโs permission, we will open our embassy there,โ Erdogan said.
Jerusalem, revered by Jews, Christians and Muslims alike, is home to Islamโs third holiest shrine as well as Judaismโs Western Wall โ both in the eastern sector โ and has been at the heart of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict for decades.
Foreign embassies in Israel, including Turkeyโs, are located in Tel Aviv, reflecting Jerusalemโs unresolved status.
A communique issued after Wednesdayโs summit of more than 50 Muslim countries, including U.S. allies, said they considered Trumpโs move to be a declaration that Washington was withdrawing from its role โas sponsor of peaceโ in the Middle East.
