US decision on Jerusalem contradicts international law: Erdoğan
ISTANBUL
President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said on Dec. 9 that the U.S. decision to recognize Jerusalem as the Israeli capital “contradicted international law and regional facts.”
U.S. President Donald Trump reversed decades of U.S. policy on Dec. 6 and recognized Jerusalem as the capital of Israel, despite warnings from around the world that the gesture further drives a wedge between Israel and the Palestinians.
“[U.S. President Donald] Trump wants to move on [by saying] ‘I did it and it’s OK.’ Leading the world is not so easy. Being strong does not give you this right,” Erdoğan said in a speech at the closing ceremony of Turkish Exporters’ Assembly’s Innovation and Entrepreneurship Week.
“World leaders’ task to make peace, not to create conflicts,” he added.
“Israel is an occupying state and their police are shooting youths and children ... They are striking Gaza with their F-16s,” Erdoğan said.
He also emphasized the importance of Turkey’s stability for the Muslim world.
“If Turkey is weakened, Palestine, Jerusalem, Syria and Iraq will all lose hope,” he said.
