Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan stressed that President Donald Trump’s recognition of the sovereignty the Israeli occupation over the Syrian Golan Heights will not be accepted by the UN General Assembly or the Security Council.
In a town hall meeting with students that was broadcast on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram on Thursday, President Erdogan said that the UN resolutions asserted the Golan Heights is a Syrian land and that the Israeli occupation has no right to lay claim to that geographical area.
“President Trump thinks he is the only one calling the shots in this world. We say to him you will not be able to attain everything you want. Last week I called the French president and asked him about his opinion of Trump’s decision. He told me that he shared my view and that he would meet President Trump and would express his rejection of the decision,” President Erdogan said.
The Turkish president regretted that the Gulf States and Islamic countries did not take a firm stance against Trump’s decision on the Golan Heights. He reiterated his insistence on continuing to support the issues of the Islamic nation regardless of what some leaders will say.
Moreover, President Erdogan stressed that it is his duty to defend the nation’s interests as the current head of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation. He vowed he would continue to do so even if the Islamic countries stuck to their lackluster positions.
The Syrian Coalition earlier said that the attempts by US President Donald Trump to grant legitimacy to the Israeli occupation of the Golan Heights “constitutes a violation of international law and consolidation of the law of the jungle.” It warned the international community against “remaining silent about any allusions to the territorial integrity of Syria.”
A Financial Times’ editorial on Monday said that President Trump has “set a dangerous precedent that risks repercussions far beyond the region,” adding that “Donald Trump has once again displayed a reckless disregard for international norms.” (Source: Syrian Coalition’s Media Department)
