No one has the right or authority to take unilateral, arbitrary decisions regarding Jerusalem, Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yıldırım said during a speech at a symposium on migration and adaptation in Ankara on Friday. He added that the unilateral decision taken by the U.S. to recognize Jerusalem as the Israeli capital is “null and void.”
He noted that the U.S.’s decision to move its embassy to Jerusalem “violates international law, historical facts and all UN resolutions.” Israel, according to Turkish premier, was awarded by the U.S., while oppressed Palestinians were once again punished.
Yıldırım reiterated Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s statement that declares Jerusalem as Turkey’s “red line.” He said “historic decisions” were taken by the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) members in Istanbul, including the declaration of Jerusalem as the capital of Palestine.
Despite widespread international opposition, U.S. President Donald Trump last week announced his decision to recognize Jerusalem as Israel’s capital and said preparations would begin to move the U.S. embassy there.
Trump’s decision has sparked global outrage and protests, and on Monday the EU strongly rejected Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s calls to recognize the holy city as the capital of Israel.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan invited leaders of over 50 Muslim nations to Wednesday's OIC meeting in Istanbul to formulate a joint response to Trump's decision.
The OIC communique declared East Jerusalem as Palestine’s capital and said that the U.S.’s Jerusalem decision was an announcement of its withdrawal from its role as a sponsor of peace.
Yıldırım added that about 75,000 Syrians have returned to land liberated from the terrorist groups Daesh and the PKK, including substantial areas of Syria made safe by Turkish army operations.
“Things are improving in Syria, slowly getting back on track. With [Operation] Euphrates Shield, we have cleared an area of 2,000 square kilometers from Daesh and the PKK,” he said.
“Our 75,000 Syrian brothers have gone back to that area, settled down, and returned to their normal lives.”
Last year, Turkey launched Operation Euphrates Shield, a military campaign aimed at clearing Daesh terrorists from the Turkish-Syrian border region.
Syria has only just begun to emerge from a devastating civil war that began in 2011. Since then, hundreds of thousands of people have been killed in the conflict and millions more displaced, according to the UN.
Turkey currently hosts 3.2 million Syrian refugees, more than any other country in the world.
