The world leaders’ task is to make peace and not to create conflicts, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said, referring to the U.S. President Donald Trump’s move on Jerusalem.
Speaking at Turkish Exporters’ Assembly’s Innovation and Entrepreneurship Week meeting, Erdogan said Trump’s decision on Jerusalem “contradicts international law, regional facts”.
On Wednesday, President Donald Trump -- reversing decades of U.S. policy -- announced his decision to recognize Jerusalem as Israel’s capital and move Washington’s Israel embassy to the city.
“America’s decision does not comply with international law, human conscience, justice and regional facts. This statement is a big blow to the United Nations Security Council, to which the U.S. is also a member,” Erdogan said.
“The United Nations cannot have any credibility if even its Security Council’s permanent members do not respect it,” he added.
The dramatic shift in Washington’s Jerusalem policy triggered demonstrations in the occupied Palestinian territories, Turkey, Egypt, Jordan, Tunisia, Algeria, Iraq and other Muslim countries.
“[U.S. President Donald] Trump wants to move on [by saying] ‘I did and it’s OK’. Leading the world is not that easy. Being strong does not give you this right,” Erdogan said.
“Leaders of the big countries are tasked with making peace, not to create conflicts,” he added.
“Israel is an occupying state, and their police are shooting the youth and the kids... They are striking Gaza with their F-16s. They are striking Palestine in the meantime,” Erdogan said.
“I am saying this loud and clear, being strong does not mean being right,” he added.
The Turkish president also highlighted the importance of his country’s stability. “If Turkey gets weakened, Palestine, Jerusalem, Syria and Iraq would all lose hope.”
Two Palestinians were martyred in fresh Israeli airstrikes in the Gaza Strip on Saturday, according to the Palestinian Health Ministry. The Israeli army, for its part, said its forces had struck four Hamas targets in Gaza overnight following a rocket fire from the Palestinian territory into southern Israel.