By Tugrul Cam
ANKARA (AA) – Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu will visit New York for the UN General Assembly’s vote on Thursday morning, diplomatic sources said Wednesday.
The UN members will convene on Thursday morning for a vote on the U.S. decision to veto a UN Security Council resolution against President Donald Trump’s decision on Jerusalem, said the Turkish sources, who spoke on the condition of anonymity due to restrictions on talking to the media.
Cavusoglu, who is currently in the Azerbaijani capital Baku for the 5th trilateral meeting of foreign ministers of Turkey, Azerbaijan and Iran, is expected to meet with Palestinian Foreign Minister Riyad al-Malki Wednesday evening in Istanbul and hold a press conference afterwards, before leaving for New York with al-Malki.
He will also carry out negotiations in support of Palestine before the vote, the sources added.
The move comes two weeks after Washington announced its decision 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.
The U.S. vetoed 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.
Fourteen council members voted in favor of the Egyptian-sponsored resolution that would have demanded that Trump reverse course on the decision. The U.S. was the sole dissenting vote.
Jerusalem's status has long been considered a final status issue to be determined by Israeli-Palestinian peace negotiations and Trump's decision is widely seen as undercutting that long-standing understanding. East Jerusalem, which Palestinians are seeking to make the capital of their state, has been under Israeli occupation since 1967.
