Erdogan: US has no right to give Golan to Israel

By Sefa Mutlu and Gokhan Yilmaz</p> <p>ISTANBUL (AA) – The United States has no jurisdiction or right to &quot;give&quot; the Golan Heights to Israel, Turkey’s president said late Tuesday.</p> <p>Speaking at an election rally in Istanbul, Recep Tayyip Erdogan said voters in Israel will go to the polls on April 9.</p> <p>Erdogan said U.S. President Donald Trump asked Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to come the U.S. and signed a proclamation on the Golan Heights because of the elections in Israel, implying that Trump's move was made to ensure more electoral support for Netanyahu.</p> <p> He said the Golan Heights completely belongs to Syria according to UN resolutions and the U.S. is attempting to give this territory to Israel.</p> <p>&quot;You do not have jurisdiction or a right like that,&quot; Erdogan stressed.</p> <p>Erdogan said the U.S. move on the Golan Heights is not recognized by the European Union, the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), Russia or China.</p> <p>&quot;Speaking the truth with courage is our duty,&quot; he said.</p> <p>Erdogan added that Turkey, as the term president of the OIC, responded to the U.S. move on the Golan Heights and will also respond in the future. </p> <p>On Monday, Trump signed a presidential proclamation officially recognizing the Golan Heights as Israeli territory.</p> <p>The UN said the Golan Heights is still considered an “occupied territory” under international law, despite Trump’s announcement. </p> <p>Israel occupied the Golan Heights during the 1967 Arab-Israeli War.</p> <p>It continues to occupy roughly two-thirds of the wider Golan Heights region as a direct result of the conflict.</p> <p>In 1981, Israel formally annexed the territory in a move unanimously rejected at the time by the UN Security Council.</p> <p>