World must recognize Palestine with East Jerusalem as its capital, FM Çavuşoğlu says

The world has to recognize East Jerusalem as the capital of Palestine, Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu said Wednesday at the opening of an extraordinary summit of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) on Jerusalem.

"Firstly, Palestine must be recognized by all other countries. We must all strive together for this," Çavuşoğlu said as foreign ministers convened ahead of the full OIC meeting.

"We, who recognize East Jerusalem as Palestine's capital, must encourage other countries to [also] recognize Palestine on the basis of its 1967 borders with East Jerusalem as its capital."

Jerusalem, revered by Jews, Christians and Muslims alike, is home to Islam's third holiest site and has been at the heart of Israeli-Palestinian conflict for decades.

"We've gathered here in order to stop the persecution. The U.S. has deeply wounded humanity's conscience. Israel is aiming to legitimize its occupation attempt. This U.S. decision is null and void for us," the foreign minister said.

Israel occupied East Jerusalem in the 1967 and later annexed it, an action deemed illegal under the international law.

U.S. President Donald Trump's announcement last week recognizing the city as Israel's capital led to protests in many Muslim countries. Turkey said it would plunge the world "into a fire with no end."

President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan called the summit in response to a U.S. decision to recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel.

Speaking ahead of the summit Tuesday Çavuşoğlu said the OIC will give a "strong message" after the summit.