Washington has lost Middle East mediator role with embassy move: Turkey's Erdoğan

The US has lost its role as mediator in the Middle East by moving its embassy in Israel to Jerusalem, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said in London on Monday.

"With its latest step America has chosen to be a part of the problem, not a solution, and lost its mediator role in the Middle East peace process", Erdoğan told the Chatham House international affairs think tank.

"We are rejecting once again this decision which violates international law and which is against UN resolutions," he said.

Monday also coincides with the 70th anniversary of Israel's establishment in 1948 -- an event Palestinians refer to as the "Nakba" or the "The Catastrophe".

"We cannot stop feeling like being in dark days of pre-World War II," Erdoğan said on the embassy move.

Erdoğan called the US embassy move from Tel Aviv to the disputed city of Jerusalem "very, very unfortunate" and said it "will increase tensions and ignite an even greater fire between communities".

"The international community must do its part as soon as possible and take swift action to put an end to Israel's increasing aggression," he went on.

"The establishment of an independent Palestinian state with Jerusalem as its capital is the only way for lasting peace and stability," he said.

"If Shakespeare was alive and to rewrite his Hamlet today, I believe he would make Prince Hamlet say the same thing: 'The time is out of joint'," Erdoğan said, quoting the famous English bard.

"It is not possible to say anything else after seeing more than 50 people who were killed by snipers after specifically being targeted in Palestine -- just in the last few weeks -- and about 1000 wounded people, who wanted nothing else but to go back their homes," he said.

"Ask a father who works for under $1 per day and tries to look after his family! Can he say anything else?

"Words fail to describe the miserable conditions for millions of people in Somalia, Yemen and Afghanistan."

U.S. President Donald Trump sparked international outcry last December when he unilaterally recognized Jerusalem as Israel's capital and vowed to relocate Washington's embassy to the city.