Turkey's diplomatic efforts confronting U.S. President Donald Trump's Dec. 6 decision to recognize Jerusalem as Israel's capital will continue, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said yesterday in Ankara.
"This [UNGA vote] was the second step after the step taken at the United Nations Security Council and it has passed with success. Now, of course, there will be the third, or maybe even a fourth step that may follow this," Erdoğan said. The president also added that there are talks being held between Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu and Palestinian authorities. Erdoğan's comments came after he was asked during a presser ahead of his official visit to Chad whether there will be new diplomatic steps taken by Turkey in addition to last Thursday's Jerusalem resolution vote in the United Nations General Assembly, which was passed by 128 votes in favor, nine against and 35 abstentions. Prior to the vote on Thursday, the resolution was voted on in the UNSC. It did not pass when the U.S. used its veto. However, the 14 to 1 result was still interpreted as a unified stance against Trump's controversial decision on Dec. 6 to recognize Jerusalem as Israel's capital city instead of Tel Aviv.
The president said new steps must be taken with "a new dynamism" as there is now strong support from the European Union, the Arab League, the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), as well as the non-Aligned states. Erdoğan added that the call to the U.S. to nullify the vote would continue and responded to a question whether he will be discussing the matter with Trump any time soon; he said Turkey has called on the U.S. to discuss the matter with them, as Ankara is the term president of the OIC, however, it has not yet happened. The U.N.'s history regarding Palestine dates back to 1947, a year before Israel was founded. Since that day, the U.N. has released nearly 100 resolutions in relation to Palestine and its conflict with Israel, the first one recommending the partition plan in 1947 with Resolution 181. The U.N. opted for a special status, as Jerusalem is holy to Jews, Christians and Muslims.
