Turkey: Palestine's envoy attends protest on Jerusalem

By Metin Girgin and Sahin Oktay

KOCAELI, Turkey

Palestine's Ambassador to Turkey on Sunday attended a rally to protest U.S. President Donald Trump's recognition of Jerusalem as the Israeli capital.

Addressing the rally in Turkey's northwestern Kocaeli province, he said: “There will be no peace in Jerusalem without the Palestinian state and there will be no Palestinian state possible without Jerusalem as its capital.”

He added recognizing Jerusalem as Israel's capital challenged UN resolutions.

He thanked President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and the Turkish people for their support to Palestine.

Fatih Erbakan, chairman of Turkey-based Erbakan Foundation, said: "The unity of Islam and Muslims needs to be established in order to actually free Jerusalem."

Erbakan said that if the D-8 organization, which his father and former Turkish Prime Minister Necmettin Erbakan had launched, would have been protected the U.S. and Jerusalem would have known their place.

The D-8 organization was launched on June 15, 1997, when Erbakan proposed the creation of an economic group including Bangladesh, Egypt, Indonesia, Iran, Malaysia, Nigeria, Pakistan, and Turkey.

Erbakan was Turkey’s prime minister from June 1996 until Feb. 28, 1997, when the military effectively deposed him under a “post-modern coup” after less than a year in office, leading to the collapse of his coalition government.

French pianist and composer Stephane Blet said he has held concerts in support of Palestine for the past 25 years.

Calling Zionism a cancer, he said: “Such a cancer needs strong chemotherapy. To win against Zionism we have to be united and organize the harshest boycott against America and Israel."

Confederation of Turkish Real Trade Unions (Hak-Is), Humanitarian Relief Foundation (IHH), Confederation of Public Servants Trade Unions (Memur-Sen), the Alumni Association of Imam Hatip High Schools (ONDER) and other non-governmental organizations participated in the rally.

Trump's decision on Dec. 6 triggered demonstrations around the world including in the occupied Palestinian territories, Turkey, Egypt, Jordan, Tunisia, Algeria, Iraq and other Muslim countries.

Jerusalem remains at the heart of the Israel-Palestine conflict, with Palestinians hoping that East Jerusalem -- now occupied by Israel -- might eventually serve as the capital of a future Palestinian state.