Turkish foreign minister criticizes US' Jerusalem move

ISTANBUL

The Turkish foreign minister on Saturday criticized Washington's unilateral decision to move its embassy to Jerusalem.

"This decision of the U.S. is wrong," Mevlut Cavusoglu said, speaking in Istanbul at the Forum for Arab Journalists.

"We need to take a common stance against this wrong decision. We are seeing some hesitance within the Arab League recently, which is a mistake," he said.

Last December, U.S. President Donald Trump sparked international outrage when he unilaterally recognized Jerusalem as Israel's capital and vowed to relocate Washington's embassy to the city.

The U.S. intends to officially relocate its embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem on May 14 to coincide with the 70th anniversary of Israel’s establishment in 1948 -- an event Palestinians refer to as the “Nakba” or “The Catastrophe”.

Cavusoglu reiterated Turkey's stance on Palestine, saying that even if every country remains silent on the Jerusalem issue "Turkey will not."

"Turkey will continue to defend the Jerusalem case for the Palestinians," the top diplomat added.

Jerusalem remains at the heart of the Palestine-Israel conflict, with Palestinians seeking East Jerusalem -- occupied by Israel since 1967 -- as the capital of an independent Palestinian state.

Reporting by Andac Hongur:Writing by Satuk Bugra Kutlugun