UPDATE 2 - Palestine president rules out US role in peace process

UPDATES WITH FURTHER REMARKS OF ABBAS

By Nilay Kar Onum and Satuk Bugra Kutlugun

ISTANBUL (AA) - Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas on Wednesday said his country would not accept a future role for the U.S. in the Middle East peace process.

The declaration came in response to U.S. President Donald Trump’s recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital last week.

"The U.S. is no longer a neutral mediator in the peace process. We cannot accept this as Palestinians, Muslims and Arabs, because the mediator has to be neutral, not biased or one-sided," Abbas told a news conference.

“We will never allow the U.S. [to have] a role in the future peace process,” Abbas told a special meeting of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) earlier in Istanbul.

The president added that Palestinians did “not want American mediation anymore.”

Turkey hosted the 57-member OIC following the U.S. decision, which has been widely condemned by world leaders. The summit is expected to develop a unified Muslim position on Trump’s policy shift.

“We believe that this is one of the most successful summits that took place. It deals with many important and serious matters, that is the issue of Al-Quds Sharif,” Abbas said.

“We will go to the UN’s Security Council with the aim to revoke Trump’s declaration,” he said. “We will also go to the Security Council for full [UN] membership for the Palestinian state,” he added.

The Palestinian president urged Muslims not to boycott the holy city and urged Islamic countries to implement concrete projects and support to give them hope.

He said if Palestinians did not receive support they would be forced to leave their motherland "like Israel wants them to".

Abbas highlighted that Jerusalem is home to Islam's third-holiest mosque, saying that there cannot be a Jerusalem without its people.

“We have to protect the people of Jerusalem and enhance them and strengthen their presence there,” he said.

Earlier on Wednesday Abbas said that Jerusalem “is and always will be the capital of Palestine” as he called on the world to acknowledge the city as such.

“Peace will not come unless Jerusalem is recognized as Palestine's capital,” he added.

OIC Secretary General Yousef bin Ahmad Al-Othaimeen reiterated his call on countries which do not recognize Palestine as a sovereign state to do so.

Denouncing the U.S. move over Jerusalem, Othaimeen said it destroys the U.S. role as mediator to the peace process.

He warned that the move will ignite violence in the region.

“Jerusalem has been an inseparable part of Palestine since 1967," he said.

Jerusalem remains at the core of the Israel-Palestine conflict, with Palestinians hoping that East Jerusalem -- currently occupied by Israel -- will eventually become the capital of a Palestinian state.