Turkey to open embassy in East Jerusalem: FM

ANKARA, Dec. 14 (Xinhua) -- Turkey will open embassy in East Jerusalem after members of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) declared the city the capital of Palestine, Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said on Thursday.

"Recognition of the Palestinian state is in line with UN decisions. We will strive for recognition of East Jerusalem as Palestine's capital," Cavusoglu was quoted by Daily Sabah as saying.

All kinds of efforts will be made until the U.S. retreats from its decision on Jerusalem, he added.

Turkey's main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) on Thursday asked the government to open embassy to Palestine in East Jerusalem.

"Turkey should immediately open its embassy to Palestine in East Jerusalem," Engin Altay, the CHP's parliamentary deputy group chairman, said while speaking to journalists in the parliament.

Altay said his party would support the move without any condition.

During an extraordinary summit in Istanbul on Wednesday, the OIC declared East Jerusalem the capital of Palestine under occupation and urged the U.S. to withdraw from the peace process and back down from its Jerusalem decision.

The Consulate General of the Republic of Turkey, opened in 1925 following the declaration of the Republic, has the privilege of being one of the oldest diplomatic missions abroad directly linked to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

After Israel declared Jerusalem as its "eternal and indivisible" capital in 1980, Turkey closed its Consulate General in Jerusalem as a sign of protest.

Following the positive atmosphere created by the Madrid Peace Conference, the Consulate General resumed its activities in September 1992 and has remained open so far. Enditem