Turkey will break off diplomatic relations with Israel in case the US recognizes Jerusalem the Israeli capital. This was stated by Turkish leader Recep Tayyip Erdogan, announced on Tuesday, December 5, Hürriyet.
“Jerusalem is a red line for Muslims (…). America has no more problems, only this left?” — the President said, warning the United States not to take steps that “will further deepen the crisis in the region.”
According to RIA Novosti, the Turkish leader added that the recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital “would be a severe blow for all mankind”
Erdogan stressed that if Jerusalem still recognize the capital of Israel, in the next 5-10 days the leaders of the Organization of Islamic cooperation will meet in Istanbul, the newspaper notes.
Earlier, CNN, citing sources familiar with the situation, and foreign diplomats reported that on December 5, the President of the United States Donald trump recognizes Jerusalem as the capital of Israel.
It is expected that the American President tries to soften the statement to the Palestinians, putting only West Jerusalem (the Eastern part of the city claimed by Palestine).
The U.S. Congress in 1995 passed a law on the transfer of its Embassy from tel Aviv to Jerusalem. However, due to the disputed status of the city and of the risk of worsening Arab-Israeli crisis, American leaders, including Donald trump, every six months sign a document postponing the execution of the decision, said RIA Novosti.
All foreign embassies are located in tel Aviv.
Turkey and Israel have reached agreement on the normalization of relations at the end of June 2016.