Istanbul: Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan on Friday slammed US President Donald Trump’s decision to move the US Embassy in Israel to Jerusalem. He lashed out at Washington and the United Nations for Israeli brutality on Palestinians post embassy’s opening.
Describing Israel as “terrorist state” Erdogan accused it of using Nazi-like methods. While declaring three days of mourning in Turkey following the Gaza events, Erdogan called for an extraordinary summit of the 57-member Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC). In his opening speech at the summit in Istanbul Erdogan said “Israel must certainly be held accountable for the innocent people it has massacred in front of the international law. We will follow this issue in the United Nations General Assembly as well”.
Addressing thousands of Palestinian supporters in Istanbul Erdogan said: “If the Muslim world stands against cruelty in Gaza together, Israel’s recklessness will not last.”
Palestinian Prime Minister Rami Hamdallah urged the world to act against Israel.
Speaking at the Istanbul summit, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani, called on Muslim countries “to totally cut their relations with the Zionist regime (Israel) and also to revise their trade and economic ties with America”. UN human rights chief Zeid Ra’ad al-Hussein also condemned the systematic deprivation of Palestinians’ human rights.
Expressing solidarity with Palestinians, Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi denounced the shifting of US embassy to Jerusalem and revealed that in Pakistan, Friday has been observed as a day to express solidarity with the Palestinians.