Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan publicly voiced his support for plans to headquarter his country’s new Israeli embassy inside eastern Jerusalem, throwing Ankara’s full weight behind the highly controversial decision.
During a speech Sunday at a political rally in southern Turkey’s Karaman province, the Turkish president said it would only be a matter of time before the Arab-controlled sector of Jerusalem became the home for Ankara’s main diplomatic outpost.
“God willing, the day is close when officially, with God’s permission, we will open our embassy there,” Mr. Erdogan said, noting the country’s Israeli ambassador and consulate general offices are already based in Jerusalem. That said, he provided little detail as to how Turkey would go about transitioning its entire diplomatic mission in Israel to eastern Jerusalem.
Turkish officials, most notably Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu, have been suggesting Mr. Erdogan was entertaining the notion of basing the country’s new embassy in the ancient Israeli city. But Sunday’s personal vote of confidence by the Turkish president marks the strongest show of support by Mr. Ergodan’s government for the move.
It comes roughly a week after Mr. Ergodan, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and other Muslim leaders railed against the White House’s decision to recognize all of Jerusalem as the officials Israeli capital, and efforts were underway to relocate the U.S. embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to the holy city.
Other nations, most recently Russia, have recognized Jerusalem as the Israeli capital, but noted those borders only extend to the western part of the city. That specific delineation has always been taken in international circles, regarding Jerusalem’s sovereignty, since eastern Jerusalem has long been considered the capital of a future Palestinian state.
While the Trump White House made clear that defining borders within Jerusalem should be decided by Israel and the Palestinians, Washington’s policy shift on the city has reignited anti-U.S. sentiment in the Middle East. The decision prompted Mr. Abbas to claim Washington has effectively abdicated its role as the main arbiter of peace in the region and irreparably damaging U.S. credibility in the Middle East.
Monday’s decision by the White House to veto a United Nations resolution condemning U.S. recognition of all of Jerusalem as the de facto Israeli capital only added fuel to Washington’s critics in the region.
The resolution specifically sought to assert that “any decisions and actions which purport to have altered the character, status or demographic composition of the Holy City of Jerusalem have no legal effect,” according to Reuters.
The veto against the U.N. Security Council resolution even drew the ire of longtime allies Britain and France, who both voted in favor of the council’s resolution, spearheaded by the Egyptian delegation.
In moving to veto, U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Nikki Haley called the resolution “an insult” that won’t be forgotten, according The Associated Press. The United States has a right to decide wherever it wants to put the American embassy in Israel and was, as a result, forced to veto Monday’s Security Council resolution, Mrs. Haley said in defense of the U.S. opposition to the resolution.
• Carlo Muñoz can be reached at cmunoz@washingtontimes.com.
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