RNA - Speaking at a ruling Justice and Development Party’s congress in the central Turkish province of Sivas on Sunday, Erdogan blasted the “disproportionate” force being used by Israeli forces against Palestinian protesters, saying that Israel was an “oppressive and occupation” regime.
The remarks came only a day after the Turkish leader decried Trump’s decision on Jerusalem al-Quds, stressing that the move “contradicts international law and regional facts.”
“America’s decision does not comply with international law and human conscience, justice and regional facts. This statement is a big blow to the United Nations Security Council, to which the US is also a member,” Erdogan said, adding, “The United Nations cannot have any credibility when its Security Council’s permanent members do not respect it.”
“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,” the Turkish president pointed out.
Meanwhile, the de facto leader of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) has warned that Trump's decision to recognize Jerusalem al-Quds as Israel's capital could provide a lifeline to militants, who have been dealt stinging blows this year.
“The US move could throw a lifebuoy to terrorist and armed groups, which have begun to lose ground in the region,” Abu Dhabi Crown Prince Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan told a delegation from the Washington Institute for Near East Policy on Saturday evening.
He stated that Washington's unilateral decision violated UN resolutions.
Sheikh Mohammed also urged the US administration to “reconsider its move and work basically in an effective and neutral manner to draft true principles for peace that serve all and realize development and stability in the region.”
On Wednesday, Trump announced his decision to recognize Jerusalem al-Quds as Israel’s capital and relocate the US embassy in the occupied lands from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem al-Quds.
The dramatic shift in Washington’s Jerusalem al-Quds policy triggered demonstrations in the occupied Palestinian territories, Iran, Turkey, Egypt, Jordan, Tunisia, Algeria, Iraq, Morocco and other Muslim countries.
On Sunday, violent clashes erupted outside the US Embassy in the Lebanese capital city of Beirut during a protest against US president’s decision to officially recognize Jerusalem al-Quds as Israel’s capital.
Demonstrators burnt tires as well as the US and Israeli flags as they pushed to break through a barbed wire erected by security forces around the embassy complex.
Security forces fired tear gas and water cannon to disperse the angry protesters.
Jerusalem al-Quds remains at the core of the Israeli–Palestinian conflict, with Palestinians hoping that the eastern part of the city would eventually serve as the capital of a future independent Palestinian state.
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