Turkey says regrets to see veto of UN resolution on Jerusalem
ANKARA
Turkey regrets the vetoing by the United States on Dec. 18 of a U.N. Security Council resolution that called for the U.S. declaration of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital to be withdrawn, the Turkish Foreign Ministry has said.
Turkey dubs the veto is “worrisome,” according to presidential spokesman İbrahim Kalın.
The United States was further isolated over President Donald Trump’s decision when it blocked a U.N. Security Council call for the declaration to be withdrawn despite the other 14 members voting in favor of it.
“The United States being left alone in the vote is a concrete sign of the illegality of its decision on Jerusalem,” the Turkish Foreign Ministry said in a statement.
It said the U.S. decision to veto the resolution showed once again that Washington had “lost objectivity” and that it was unacceptable for the Security Council to be left “ineffective” with such a move.
Later on Dec. 18, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and British Prime Minister Theresa May discussed the blocking of the resolution in a phone call, and agreed that new tensions that could endanger the peace process in the region should be avoided, sources said.
The president has taken a leading position in opposing the U.S. move to recognize Jerusalem as Israel’s capital, hosting representatives from more than 50 Muslim countries, including U.S. allies, in Istanbul last week for a summit in response.
A communique issued after the summit said the participants considered the move to be a declaration that Washington was withdrawing from its role “as sponsor of peace” in the Middle East.
Trump’s decision broke with decades of U.S. policy and international consensus that Jerusalem’s status must be left to Israeli-Palestinian talks, leading to harsh criticisms from Muslim countries and Israel’s closest European allies, who have also rejected the move.
Jerusalem, revered by Jews, Christians and Muslims alike, is home to Islam’s third-holiest site and has been at the heart of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict for decades. Israel captured Arab East Jerusalem in 1967 and later annexed it in an action not recognized internationally.
“Turkey condemns [the U.S.] veto decision. It’s quite worrisome that the U.S. administration is still insisting on their mistake and not stepping back from their decision despite all warnings from across the world,” Kalın said during a symposium in Ankara on Dec. 19.
The U.N. General Assembly will convene on Dec. 21 to vote on the decision.
“This is a significant milestone for Jerusalem cause… We would like to remind the whole world once again that Jerusalem is not a property to be delivered to Israel nor is it for sale and its holiness cannot be overridden.”
