World opposes Trump's move on Jerusalem

ANKARA

U.S. President Donald Trump’s move to recognize Jerusalem as Israel’s capital has been met with widespread international opposition.

On Wednesday, Trump announced his decision to recognize Jerusalem as Israel’s capital.

According to him, the U.S. State Department has been told to begin preparations for the relocation of the U.S. embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.

Responding to the move, Australia's Foreign Minister Julie Bishop said her country would keep its embassy in Tel-Aviv.

"We will not be taking steps to move our embassy, it will continue to offer diplomatic representation in Tel Aviv," she said.

In a statement, U.K.’s Prime Minister Theresa May said Trump's decision is "unhelpful in terms of prospects for peace in the region".

“We disagree with the US decision to move its embassy to Jerusalem and Jerusalem as the Israeli capital before a final status agreement," she said.

“We believe it is unhelpful in terms of prospects for peace in the region. The British Embassy to Israel is based in Tel Aviv and we have no plans to move it."

‘Reckless threat’

May also said that her country regards Jerusalem as part of the occupied Palestinian territories.

U.K.’s opposition Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn, via Twitter, described the U.S. recognition of Palestinian territory as Israel's capital as a "reckless threat".

"Trump's recognition of Jerusalem as Israel's capital, including occupied Palestinian territory, is a reckless threat to peace. The British Government must condemn this dangerous act and work for a just and viable settlement of the conflict," he said via Twitter.

Bulgaria also announced that it will not follow Trump's call, as there no development regarding the issue from both Palestine and Israel.

''The status of Jerusalem as the holy city of the three monotheistic religions should be negotiated through Israeli-Palestinian peace talks that will lead to an agreement on the final status of the Palestinian territories," the ministry said in a statement on Thursday.

"Any change in the status of Jerusalem, which was not achieved through Israeli-Palestinian negotiations, could have a negative impact on efforts to re-launch the Middle East peace process," it said.

Russia voiced concerns over the U.S. move.

"We believe that this decision, at least now, does not contribute to any progress in the Middle East settlement, but on the contrary, as we see, leads to a split among the international community," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov was quoted as saying by Russian official news agency TASS.

‘Grave concern’

The Russian Foreign Ministry perceived Washington’s announcement with “grave concern” and said it would further complicate the situation in the region.

In a statement, the ministry said on Thursday that the settlement of the long-standing Palestinian-Israeli conflict must be achieved on a well-known international legal basis.

It said Moscow considered East Jerusalem as the capital of future Palestine state and West Jerusalem as the capital of Israel.

"Being a permanent member of the UN Security Council and an active participant in the Middle East quartet of international mediators, Russia will continue to provide vigorous assistance to the Palestinians and Israelis in reaching appropriate agreements," it added.

Kazakhstan also voiced concern on Thursday over the growing tension following Trump’s remarks and called upon all parties involved to exercise restraint.

"While standing for maintenance of the current status of Jerusalem, Kazakhstan reaffirms its commitment to the Middle Eastern settlement based on international law,” Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

It said the Palestinian-Israeli conflict must be resolved according to the “two states for two people” formula which foresees the establishment of the Palestinian state within the 1967 borders with East Jerusalem as its capital.

"Kazakhstan, as a non-permanent member of the UN Security Council, will continue to render its full support to the process of restoring stability in the region, which is an essential condition for the establishment of peace in the Middle East,” it added.