The 57-member Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) on Wednesday recognized East Jerusalem as the capital of the State of Palestine and invited other countries to follow suit.
According to the final communiqué released after an extraordinary summit in İstanbul on Wednesday, the OIC said: “We declare East Jerusalem as the capital of the State of Palestine and invite all countries to recognize the State of Palestine and East Jerusalem as its occupied capital.”
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, the current OIC term president, slammed a US decision to recognize Jerusalem as Israel’s capital as well as the Israeli government’s actions, saying, “Jerusalem is and always will be the capital of Palestine.”
“I declare once again that Jerusalem is our red line. Haram-al Sharif, with its 144 acres of land, al-Aqsa Mosque and Kubbet ul-Sahra, will forever belong to Muslims,” he said.
After US President Donald Trump announced that he was recognizing Jerusalem as the capital of Israel on Dec. 6, several OIC countries, including Turkey, condemned the decision and called on the OIC to convene in an extraordinary meeting in İstanbul to present a joint reaction.
Palestine President Mahmoud Abbas, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani, Qatar Emir al-Thani and Jordanian King Abdullah II were among the most prominent leaders present at the summit. Saudi Arabia was represented by the country’s Islamic affairs minister.