US threats failed in UN Jerusalem vote, Turkish PM says

By Burcu Calik

ANKARA

Prime Minister Binali Yildirim on Saturday said the majority of UN member states voted in favor of the resolution on Jerusalem undeterred by U.S. threats.

"Every country made its own decision," Yildirim said during the ordinary provincial congress of the ruling Justice and Development (AK) Party in the Black Sea province of Bartin.

The UN's 193-member General Assembly on Thursday adopted a resolution on Jerusalem with an overwhelming majority, calling on the U.S. to withdraw its recognition of the city as Israel's capital.

One hundred and members voted in favor of the resolution, nine countries voted against and 35 others abstained.

Yildirim said U.S. President Donald Trump's "threats did not work" to influence the outcome.

Trump had warned that aid would be cut to those countries voting against Washington’s move at the General Assembly. "They take hundreds of millions of dollars and even billions of dollars, and then they vote against us. Well, we're watching those votes. Let them vote against us. We'll save a lot. We don't care," Trump told reporters at the White House on Wednesday.

Yildirim added: "He tried to threaten but failed to estimate one thing. That is, no matter how great you are, every country in the world with a flag, land sovereignty will make its own decision and determine its own fate," he said.

He once more asserted that the U.S. decision on Jerusalem backfired. He said: "It is now evident that the plans and projects laid out 100 years ago will not succeed and that they are far from the region's will.

"Those decision-makers and implementers of regional design are once again trying to do the same today but there is Turkey. What is Turkey saying, no one can come out from thousands of miles away and make plans, show off in the region despite us and regional countries."

Reporting by Burcu Calik; Writing by Merve Aydogan