Putin, Erdogan back creation of Palestinian state
Moscow, Dec. 22: Russia’s President Vladimir Putin and Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Friday said they both supported creating a Palestinian state, the Kremlin said the day after the UN rejected the decision by Washington to recognise Jerusalem as Israel’s capital.
In a phonecall, the two leaders “discussed the situation of Middle East peace talks in the context of the resolution adopted by the UN General Assembly on the status of Jerusalem,” the Kremlin said in a statement.
They “confirmed the mutual disposition to continue to assist in resolving the Palestine- Israeli conflict on the basis of international norms and realisation of the right of the Palestinian people to create an independent state,” it said.
US President Donald Trump decided on December 6 to recognise Jerusalem as Israel’s capital.
The status of the Holy City is one of the thorniest issues in the IsraeliPalestinian conflict, with both sides claiming it as their capital.
On Thursday, member Assembly motion to the 193General adopted the reject Trump’s decision by 128 to nine with 35 abstentions, though the US Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley said the vote would make no difference in Washington’s decision.
Mr Erdogan had on Thursday asked US Mr Trump to reverse his decision recognising Jerusalem as Israel’s capital after a UN vote overwhelming rejected the move.
He had called on UN member states not to be swayed by Trump’s threat to cut funding for countries that backed the motion at the UN General Assembly.
“We welcome with great pleasure the UN General Assembly’s overwhelming support... We expect the Trump administration to rescind without further delay its unfortunate decision, whose illegality has been clearly established,” Erdogan said.