Turkish, Iranian presidents meet in Istanbul

By Sefa Mutlu

ISTANBUL (AA) - Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Wednesday met his Iranian counterpart Hassan Rouhani in Istanbul.

According to a Turkish presidential source, who spoke on condition of anonymity due to restrictions on speaking to the media, said the leaders had a closed-door meeting that lasted nearly 45 minutes.

The meeting came after an extraordinary summit of the Organization of the Islamic Cooperation (OIC) in the wake of U.S. recognition of Jerusalem as Israel's capital.

Following the summit, the OIC issued a declaration recognizing East Jerusalem as the capital of Palestine.

The declaration also called on the Trump administration to reconsider and withdraw its "unlawful" decision.

Turkey hosted the 57-member OIC following the U.S. decision, which has been widely condemned by world leaders.

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

During his election campaign last year, Trump repeatedly promised to relocate the U.S. embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.