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Turkey's President Erdogan tells Jerusalem summit Israel is an 'occupying' and 'terror' state | Turkey's President Erdogan tells Jerusalem summit Israel is an 'occupying' and 'terror' state |
(about 1 hour later) | |
Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has sharply criticised Israel at the opening of a summit of Islamic nations in Istanbul, calling it a "terror state." | Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has sharply criticised Israel at the opening of a summit of Islamic nations in Istanbul, calling it a "terror state." |
Turkey is hosting the 57-member Organization of Islamic Cooperation on Wednesday in the wake of the US decision to recognise Jerusalem as its capital — a move widely criticised across the world but hailed by Israel. The summit is expected to forge a unified position of Arab and Muslim countries. | |
Mr Erdogan said in his speech to the gathering that Jerusalem is a "red line" for Muslims who will not accept any aggression on its Islamic sanctuaries. He said East Jerusalem is the capital of a future Palestinian state and called on states that have not recognised a Palestinian state to do so. | |
Mr Erdogan said the "process to include Palestine in international agreements and institutions should be sped up". "Israel is an occupying state (and) Israel is a terror state," he said. | |
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas told Muslim leaders the US decision to recognise Jerusalem as Israel's capital was a crime which showed Washington should no longer play a role in Middle East peace talks. | |
Mr Abbas said President Trump was giving Jerusalem away as if it were an American city. | |
"Jerusalem is and always will be the capital of Palestine," he said, adding Mr Trump's decision was "the greatest crime" and a violation of international law. | |
Jerusalem, revered by Jews, Christians and Muslims alike, is home to Islam's third holiest site and has been at the heart of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict for decades. Israel captured Arab East Jerusalem in 1967 and later annexed it in an action not recognised internationally. | |
Ahead of the meeting, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said Muslim nations should urge the world to recognise East Jerusalem as the capital of a Palestinian state within its pre-1967 borders. | |
He said this week Turkey was not seeking sanctions in response to the US move, but wanted the summit to issue a strong rejection of the US decision. | |
The Trump administration says it remains committed to reaching peace between Israel and the Palestinians and its decision does not affect Jerusalem's future borders or status. | |
It says any credible future peace deal will place the Israeli capital in Jerusalem, and ditching old policies is needed to revive a peace process frozen since 2014. | |
Mr Abbas told the leaders in Istanbul that Washington could no longer be an honest broker. | |
"It will be unacceptable for it (the United States) to have a role in the political process any longer since it is biased in favour of Israel," he said. "This is our position and we hope you support us in this." | |
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has applauded Mr Trump's declaration and said Washington had an irreplaceable part to play in the region. | |
"There is no substitute to the role that the United States plays in leading the peace process," he said at a Hanukkah holiday candle lighting ceremony on Tuesday. | |
King Abdullah of Jordan told the Istanbul summit that he rejected any attempt to change the status quo of Jerusalem and its holy sites. | |
Jordan is a US ally which signed a bilateral deal with Israel in 1994. Abdullah's Hashemite dynasty is also custodian of the Muslim holy sites in Jerusalem, making Amman sensitive to any changes in the city. | |
The summit was also attended by leaders including Iran's President Hassan Rouhani and Sudan's Omar al-Bashir. Mr Rouhani tweeted that Mr Trump's decision showed the United States had no respect for Palestinian rights and could never be an honest mediator. | |
The International Criminal Court has issued arrest warrants for Mr Bashir over his alleged role in war crimes including genocide in Sudan's Darfur province, but Turkey is not a member of the court and not obliged to implement the warrants. | |
AP, Reuters |