Turkey aims to open embassy in East Jerusalem - Erdogan

Turkish President, Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Sunday, said Turkey intends to open an embassy in East Jerusalem, as he continue to rage against US President Donald Trump’s recognition of Jerusalem as capital of Israel. 

God willing, the day is close when officially, with God’s permission, we will open our embassy there,” Erdogan said in a speech to members of his AK Party in the southern province of Karaman.

How Turkey intends to open an embassy in East Jerusalem is not known as Israel controls all of Jerusalem and calls the city its indivisible capital. 

Erdogan sought to lead Islamic condemnation of the move by Trump by calling a summit of the leaders of Muslim nations last week in Istanbul who urged the world to recognize East Jerusalem as the Palestinian capital.

Palestinians want the capital of a future state they seek to be in East Jerusalem, which Israel took in a 1967 war and later annexed in a move not recognised internationally.

Jerusalem, revered by Jews, Christians and Muslims alike, is home to Islam’s third holiest shrine as well as Judaism’s Western Wall – both in the eastern sector – and has been at the heart of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict for decades.

Foreign embassies in Israel, including Turkey’s, are located in Tel Aviv, reflecting Jerusalem’s unresolved status.