The Islamic states have criticized the Israeli policy of the US government at their summit in Mecca. The Organization for Islamic Cooperation (OIC) condemned the transfer of the US Embassy to Jerusalem in a statement released today. The OIC called for a boycott of all countries following the US example.
Both Israel and the Palestinians claim Jerusalem as their capital – Israel the entire city, the Palestinians the eastern part of Jerusalem. Because of the unclear status of the city, it was decades of diplomatic consensus that foreign states should not set up their embassy in Jerusalem.
Trump ordered relocation at the end of 2017
However, at the end of 2017, Trump recognized Jerusalem as the capital of Israel and ordered the removal of the Tel Aviv embassy to Jerusalem, which was finally carried out in May 2018 under heavy Palestinian protest. Guatemala also moved his message to Jerusalem. Other countries, such as Brazil, the Czech Republic and Romania, are also considering this.
The conference of the 57 OIC countries is the third and final summit in Mecca this week. The states of the Arab League and the Gulf Cooperation Council had met there on Thursday evening on the initiative of Saudi Arabia to discuss the current tensions with Iran.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan stayed away from the OIC summit in Mecca and was represented by Foreign Minister Mevlüt Cavusoglu, an AFP photographer reported. Relations between Ankara and Riyadh have been tense since the assassination of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi at his country’s consulate in Istanbul.
