An official for Muslim-majority Turkey, where President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's visions of a renewed Islamic caliphate have been only thinly disguised in recent years, is warning other nations not to relocate their embassies to Jerusalem.
Mevlut Cavusoglu, the Turkish foreign minister, suggested at a Friday rally for Muslim-controlled nations that they really wouldn't have that choice, since Muslims would stop them.
"We must prevent other countries following the U.S. example," he said at a meeting of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation in Istanbul.
Essentially claiming control of such decisions for other nations, he challenged: "We will emphasize the status of the Palestine issue for our community, and that we will not allow the status of the historic city to be changed."
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WND reported this week Turkey's president is calling for a summit of the OIC so that members can "move as one" against Israel.
The call came after about 60 Palestinians, mostly members of terror-linked fighting forces, were killed as they tried to break through the Israel border at Gaza. The riots had been building for weeks, but Palestinians blamed it on the opening of the U.S. Embassy in Jerusalem.
Palestinians and their supporters worldwide were aghast in December when President Trump announced the U.S. was recognizing Jerusalem as Israel's capital and the U.S. Embassy would be moved there. Their immediate response was to threaten terrorist attacks on the rest of the world.
Muslims claim Jerusalem as a holy city, and the Palestinians insist it will be the capital of a future Palestinian state.
According to Russia Today, Cavusoglu opened the OIC meeting with the threat against other nations that may want to join in the U.S. in a new embassy row in Jerusalem.
Guatemala and Paraguay already have announced plans to make the move, and others are considering.
Cavusoglu said the Muslims at the meeting will "shout out that we won't allow any change to Jerusalem's historical status."
Palestinian Foreign Minister Riyad al-Maliki, the report said, blasted the embassy move as an "assault on the essence" of Muslims worldwide.
Nikki Haley, the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, blocked an immediate effort by the international body to call for an investigation of Israel's response to the attempt Monday by armed members of Hamas to breach its border.
She said Hamas needs to be held responsible for inciting "attacks against Israeli security forces and infrastructure."
WND reported when Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim said Islamic countries "should without fail review their relations with Israel."
"The Islamic world should move as one, with one voice, against this massacre," he said, referring to the rioting on the Gaza border Monday.
The embassy move was ordered by the U.S. Congress in 1995, but every president until President Trump waived the requirement. Trump ordered the recognition of Jerusalem as Israel's capital in December, setting in motion the move of the embassy from Tel Aviv.
Israeli forces fired on rioters when they tried to breach the border with Gaza. A Hamas official admitted Wednesday that 50 of the 62 casualties were members of the terrorist organization. Another three were members of the Iran-backed Palestinian Islamic Jihad terrorist organization.
The Muslim world has made several other moves to protest Trump's decision to follow the U.S. law set by Congress.
Ankara said it was recalling ambassadors to the U.S. and Israel, and Israel has expelled the Turkish consul in Jerusalem.
A recent report in the WND-affiliated Joseph Farah's G2 Bulletin said "one day" Edrogan "is going to declare himself the global Caliph, having set up alliances with most Middle Eastern Muslims – Sunni and Shia alike."
The report continued: "Erdoğan has found a path – and it's one that could set the world ablaze, not just the Middle East. In fact, while it's true that Sunnis and Shiites have some serious disharmony, Erdoğan, a Sunni himself, has already demonstrated his ability to work with Shia Iran. And Erdoğan has his sights set on a Caliphate that will, at least temporarily, bring together most of the Muslim world around common enemies – namely Israel and the U.S.
"What makes ErdoÄŸan such a formidable force to be reckoned with is his ability to deftly change positions in focusing on his long-term goal to re-establish the Caliphate, which only Turkey, the center of the Ottoman Empire, has been able to manage historically over the last 1,000 years."