Erdogan calls for establishment of Palestinian state with East Jerusalem as capital

BEIRUT, LEBANON (4:20 P.M.) – Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Sunday that Turkey will continue its struggle to establish a sovereign Palestinian state with East Jerusalem as its capital.

In a message sent Saturday to the participants in the inauguration of the new building of the Association of Parliamentarians for Jerusalem in Istanbul, in conjunction with the International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People, Erdogan said that “we seek in all forums to defend the issue of Jerusalem and are working with all our strength to end the policies of occupation, injustice and genocide against our Palestinian brothers. ”

He said, “We will continue our struggle for the establishment of an independent, sovereign, and unified Palestinian state with East Jerusalem as its capital, within the 1967 borders, based on United Nations resolutions and the Arab Peace Initiative.”

Yesterday, during his participation by video call at the 23rd annual conference of the American Islamic Society, Erdogan stressed that “the Turks should defend the rights of Jerusalem, even with their lives,” stressing that it is “the honor of the Islamic nation.”

Directing his speech to the Islamic world, Erdogan said, “Let us put our differences aside, and meet at the common denominator of Islam in the face of attacks on our sanctities.”

Erdogan’s tenure as Turkish President has seen an increase in tension with Israel, culminating in the suspension of diplomatic ties between the two nations.