OIC leaders meet over US recognition

The Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) convenes an urgent summit in Istanbul on Washington’s contentious declaration on the occupied al-Quds ('Jerusalem'), with the Turkish foreign minister urging Muslim nations to respond by pressing the world for the recognition of the city as the capital of a Palestinian state.      Representatives from 57 OIC members are attending the summit, which is meant to coordinate a response to a US decision to recognize Jerusalem al-Quds as Israel’s “capital.”      “Firstly the Palestinian state must be recognized by all other countries. We must all strive together for this,” the top Turkish diplomat, Mevlut Cavusoglu , said. “We must encourage other countries to recognize the Palestinian state on the basis of its 1967 borders with East Jerusalem [al-Quds] as its capital.”   Erdogan: al-Quds ‘red line for Muslims’      Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, whose country holds the rotating presidency of the OIC, was the first head of state to address the event.  He told OIC leaders that Israel’s expansionism is “skyrocketing,” describing the entity as “a state of occupation.” “Besides this, Israel is a state of terror.”     The Turkish leader further urged the international community to recognize East Jerusalem as the “capital of Palestine.”  Erdogan described Washington’s decision as a reward for Israeli “terror acts” and said the city was a red line for Muslims.     ‘Al-Quds will forever be Palestine’s capital’   Meanwhile, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas decried the Trump administration’s decision as the “greatest crime” and a flagrant violation of international law. He said Washington was giving away Jerusalem al-Quds a "gift" to the "Zionist movement" as if it were an American city, adding, "It crosses all the red lines."    “Jerusalem [al-Quds] is and will forever be the capital of the Palestinian state... There will be no peace, no stability without that,” he said.  Abbas rejected any future role for the United States in the so-called Middle East peace process, noting that Washington is biased in favor of Israel.  He called on the UN to assume the mediating role in the Mideast peace process and revive it with a new mechanism as the US is no longer “fit” for the task.  The Palestinian president pointed to the unanimous international opposition to Trump’s decision, calling it a “provocation” to Muslim and Christian sentiments.    Iranian President Hassan Rouhani, Jordanian King Abdullah II and Lebanese President Michel Aoun are also among the participants.     Earlier this month, US President Donald Trump announced that the US was recognizing Jerusalem al-Quds as Israel’s “capital” and tasked the State Department with making preparations for the relocation of Washington’s embassy from Tel Aviv to the occupied Palestinian city.  The dramatic shift in Washington’s Jerusalem al-Quds policy drew fierce criticism from the international community, including the United States’ Western allies, and triggered demonstrations against the US and Israel worldwide.