13 December 2017•Update: 13 December 2017
By Furkan Guldemir, Ahmet Sait Akcay
BEIRUT
A Turkish lawmaker on Wednesday said the Palestinians expected Muslim leaders to declare Jerusalem as the permanent capital of Palestine.
An extraordinary summit of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) is being held in Istanbul on Wednesday to discuss the repercussions of last week’s decision by U.S. President Donald Trump to recognize Jerusalem as Israel's capital.
"Palestinians expect concrete and positive steps at the end of this meeting," MP Hasan Turan, who is also the head of the Turkey-Palestine Parliamentary Friendship Group, told Anadolu Agency.
"When we asked them about their expectations, they responded, 'Our permanent capital is Jerusalem,'” said Turan, who visited two Palestinian refugee camps in Lebanon and talked with the Palestinians there.
He said Palestinians appreciated the role played by Turkey in defending Jerusalem.
Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu on Wednesday called on the OIC to encourage other countries worldwide to recognize East Jerusalem as the capital of a Palestinian state based on the 1967 borders.
Last week, Trump announced his decision -- despite widespread opposition across the Middle East -- to formally recognize Jerusalem as Israel’s capital.
The announcement sparked strong condemnation from around the world, including Turkey, the EU and the UN.
Jerusalem remains at the core of the Israel-Palestine conflict, with Palestinians hoping that East Jerusalem -- now occupied by Israel -- might eventually serve as the capital of a future Palestinian state.
