Turkish foreign minister says all countries have to recognize Palestine for lasting peace
Turkey’s foreign minister urged the international community on Wednesday to join forces against Israel’s attempts to weaken the two-state solution of Palestine.
Cavusoglu said he stands by the legitimate fight of NAM -- which was established to support decolonization, independence and national solidarity -- for freedom and self-determination of the Palestinian nation, and noted that the Palestinian cause is going through one of the toughest periods of its history.
Stressing that the Palestinian people are always living in an emergency state, he called on NAM members to urge Israel to comply with international law.
"We need to put pressure on Israel to avoid more harmful activities, including new illegal settlement area decisions, violation of the rights of the Palestinians, and attempts to erode Jerusalem’s legal and historical conditions," he said.
Jerusalem remains at the heart of the perennial Middle East conflict, with Palestinians hoping East Jerusalem -- occupied by Israel since 1967 -- might eventually serve as the capital of an independent Palestinian state.
The Israeli-Palestinian peace process collapsed in mid-2014 due to Israel's continued refusal to halt West Bank settlement building and accept pre-1967 borders as a basis for a two-state solution.
Officials from Bangladesh, Algeria, Indonesia, South Africa, India, Colombia, Cuba, Malaysia, Egypt, Senegal, Sri Lanka, Zambia and Zimbabwe also attended the meeting.
