Implementation of US decision on Jerusalem will not be easy, says Erdogan

Decisions made at the approaching meeting of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) will show that US recognition of Jerusalem as the Israeli capital will not be easy to implement, Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan said on Sunday.

A spokesman for Erdogan on Wednesday had announced that the OIC would a hold an urgent meeting in Turkey on December 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.

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“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 US 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 UN Security Council resolution rejecting the US move.

The Arab League, which consists of Arabic-speaking nations, currently has 22 active member states.

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Most countries consider East Jerusalem, which Israel annexed after capturing it in a 1967 war, to be occupied territory, and say the status of the city should be left to be decided at future Israeli-Palestinian talks.

While the international community has almost unanimously disagreed with Donald Trump’s announcement, reports suggest that the announcement was done with the pre-agreement of Egypt and Saudi Arabia, with the Saudi Arabia going as far as, allegedly, stating to the Palestinian President to accept a village on the outskirts of Jerusalem as the alternative Palestinian capital.

Since the announcement, Saudi Arabia’s royal court has sent notices to the nation’s media outlets to limit the airtime given to protests against Trump’s announcement.

Emboldened by Trump’s annoucement, Israeli housing Minister Yoav Galant decided on Friday to promote a plan to build 14,000 new settlement units in the occupied Jerusalem.

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