Turkish Foreign Minister Criticizes Washington's Jerusalem Move
TEHRAN (Tasnim) - The Turkish foreign minister on Saturday criticized Washington's unilateral decision to move its embassy to Jerusalem (al-Quds).
"This decision of the US is wrong," Mevlut Cavusoglu said, speaking in Istanbul at the Forum for Arab Journalists, Anadolu agency reported.
"We need to take a common stance against this wrong decision. We are seeing some hesitance within the Arab League recently, which is a mistake," he said.
Last December, US President Donald Trump sparked international outrage when he unilaterally recognized Jerusalem (al-Quds) as Israel's capital and vowed to relocate Washington's embassy to the city.
The US intends to officially relocate its embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem (al-Quds) on May 14 to coincide with the 70th anniversary of Israel’s establishment in 1948 -- an event Palestinians refer to as the “Nakba” or “The Catastrophe”.
Cavusoglu reiterated Turkey's stance on Palestine, saying that even if every country remains silent on the Jerusalem (al-Quds) issue "Turkey will not."
"Turkey will continue to defend the Jerusalem (al-Quds) case for the Palestinians," the top diplomat added.
Jerusalem (al-Quds) remains at the heart of the Palestine-Israel conflict, with Palestinians seeking East Jerusalem (East al-Quds) -- occupied by Israel since 1967 -- as the capital of an independent Palestinian state.
