Turkish parliamentarian rejects US veto on Jerusalem

By Muhammet Emin Avundukluoglu

ANKARA (AA) - Turkish parliament's Foreign Affairs Committee head Volkan Bozkir on Tuesday slammed the U.S. veto on a UN Security Council resolution, which condemned the American decision on Jerusalem.

In a meeting with Palestinian ambassador to Ankara, Faed Mustafa, Bozkir said: "The resolution registered that the U.S. was alone with regards to its foreign policy and international politics."

The U.S. vetoed Monday a UN Security Council resolution that rejected the establishment of diplomatic facilities in the contested city of Jerusalem, breaking with the rest of the Council.

The move comes almost two weeks after Washington moved to recognize the holy city as Israel's capital and begin the process to move its embassy there from Tel Aviv -- the city where all other nations house their main diplomatic facilities.

Fourteen Council members voted in favor of the Egyptian-sponsored resolution that would have demanded U.S. President Donald Trump reverse course on the decision. The U.S. was the sole dissenting vote.

Bozkir said that the resolution against Trump's move would be submitted to UN General Assembly.

"We hope that we can get two-thirds majority there," said Bozkir.

After a proposal has been adopted or rejected, it may not be reconsidered at the same session unless the General Assembly, by a two-thirds majority votes for it.

Mustafa described the U.S. decision on recognizing Jerusalem as Israeli capital as "a political murder."

He said: "With this decision, the U.S. violated international law.

"We will continue to work on having this decision reversed. We will never approve it, we will never allow it."

Jerusalem remains at the heart of the Israel-Palestine conflict, with Palestinians hoping that East Jerusalem -- occupied by Israel since 1967-- might eventually serve as the capital of a Palestinian state.