Erdogan says Turkey will open embassy in East Jerusalem

Turkey intends to open anembassy in East Jerusalem, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Sunday, days after leading calls at a summit of Muslim leadersfor the world to recognize it as the capital of a potential nation of Palestine.

It was not clear how he would carry out the move, as Israel effectively controls mostof Jerusalem and calls the city its indivisiblecapital. Palestinians want the capital of a future state theyseek to be in East Jerusalem, which Israel took in a 1967 warand later annexed in a move not recognized internationally.

The Muslim nation summit was a response to U.S. PresidentDonald Trump's Dec. 6 decision to recognize Jerusalem asIsrael's capital. His move broke with decades of U.S. policy andinternational consensus that the city's status must be left toIsraeli-Palestinian peace negotiations.

The UN Security Council is due to vote on Monday on a draft resolution calling for the withdrawal of Trump's decision, diplomats said, a move likely to face a Washington veto.

Erdogan said in a speech to members of his AK Party in the southern province of Karaman that Turkey's consulate general inJerusalem was already represented by an ambassador.

"God willing, the day is close when officially, with God'spermission, we will open our embassy there," Erdogan said.

Jerusalem, revered by Jews, Christians and Muslims alike, ishome to Islam's revered sitesthe Dome of the Rock and Al-Aqsa Mosque as well as Judaism'sWestern Wall both in the eastern sector and has been at theheart of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict for decades.

Foreign embassies in Israel, including Turkey's, are locatedin Tel Aviv, reflecting Jerusalem's unresolved status.

A communique issued afterWednesday'ssummit of more than 50Muslim countries, including U.S. allies, said they consideredTrump's move to be a declaration that Washington was withdrawingfrom its role "as sponsor of peace" in the Middle East.

Security Council vote

The one-page Egyptian-drafted text before the UN Security Council, seen by Reuters, doesnot specifically mention the United States or Trump. Diplomatssay it has broad support among the 15-member council, and whileit is unlikely to be adopted, the vote will further isolateTrump on the issue.

To pass, a resolution needs nine votes in favour and novetoes by the United States, France, Britain, Russia or China.

U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley haspraised Trump's decision as "the just and right thing to do."

The U.S. mission to the United Nations was not immediatelyavailable to comment on Sunday.

Arab foreign ministers agreed to seek a UNSecurityCouncil resolution on the issue. The draft UNtext expresses "deep regret at recent decisions concerning the status ofJerusalem."

It "affirms that any decisions and actions which purport tohave altered, the character, status or demographic compositionof the Holy City of Jerusalem have no legal effect, are null andvoid and must be rescinded in compliance with relevantresolutions of the Security Council."

The draft also calls upon all countries to refrain fromestablishing diplomatic missions in Jerusalem.