Ankara, Turkey – Decisions made at the approaching meeting of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) will show that U.S. recognition of Jerusalem as the Israeli capital will not be easy to implement, Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan said on Sunday.
Subscribe to our Daily Roundup Email
A spokesman for Erdogan on Wednesday had announced that the OIC would a hold an urgent meeting in Turkey on Dec. 13 to coordinate a response to the decision by the United States.
The OIC, established in 1969, consists of 57 member states with a Muslim majority or a large Muslim population.
“We explained to all our interlocutors that the United States’ decision does not comply with international law, diplomacy or humanity,” Erdogan said at a Justice and Development Party (AKP) assembly in Turkey’s central province of Sivas, referring to phone calls he made to leaders including French President Emmanuel Macron and the Pope.
“With the roadmap we will create during the OIC meeting, we will show that the decision will not be easy to implement,” he said, adding that Turkey considers U.S. President Trump’s Jerusalem announcement void.
The Arab League, in a statement issued after an emergency session in Cairo on Saturday, called the announcement a “dangerous violation of international law” and said it would seek a U.N. Security Council resolution rejecting the U.S. move.
The Arab League, which consists of Arabic-speaking nations, currently has 22 active member states.
Trump’s announcement has also upset U.S. allies in the West. At the United Nations, France, Italy, Germany, Britain and Sweden called on the United States to “bring forward detailed proposals for an Israeli-Palestinian settlement”.
Palestinians took to the streets after the U.S. announcement. Demonstrations also took place in Iran, Jordan, Lebanon, Tunisia, Somalia, Yemen, Malaysia and Indonesia, as well as outside the U.S. Embassy in Berlin.