Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan slammed a Middle East plan that was presented by his US counterpart Donald Trump as “absolutely unacceptable” in comments published on Wednesday.
“Jerusalem is sacred for Muslims. The plan to give Jerusalem to Israel is absolutely unacceptable. This plan ignores Palestinians’ rights and is aimed at legitimising Israel’s occupation,” Erdogan said, quoted by CNN Turk broadcaster.
Erdogan further said that Russia was not abiding by the Sochi or Astana agreements regarding Syria’s northwestern Idlib province.
The president made the comments to reporters on his flight back from Senegal. He was also quoted as saying Turkey had told Russia that Ankara is running out of patience with the bombardments, adding that it would do what is necessary.
Earlier in the day, Iran also condemned Trump’s Israeli-Palestinian peace plan amounted to the “treason of the century” and was bound to fail.
Taking to Twitter, Foreign Minister Javad Zarif said, “The “so-called ‘Vision for Peace’ is simply the dream project of a bankruptcy-ridden real estate developer”, in reference to Trump.
Announcing the plan from the White House with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu standing next to him, Trump said his plan “could be the last opportunity” for Palestinians, which, he said, “are in poverty and violence, exploited by those seeking to use them as pawns to advance terrorism and extremism”.
Under the plan, Jerusalem will remain Israel’s “undivided capital,” Trump said, raising eyebrows after he had said that the capital of the Palestinian state would be in “eastern Jerusalem,” where the United States would “proudly open an embassy.”
The plan builds on a 30-page economic plan for the West Bank and Gaza that was unveiled last June and which the Palestinians have also rejected.