U.S. President Donald Trump’s decision to recognize Jerusalem united every party in the international politics as well as Turkey’s domestic political scene, Presidential Spokesperson İbrahim Kalın said Monday.
In an exclusive interview with the Turkish daily Hürriyet, Kalın said Trump’s decision had two dimensions: one was a domestic election promise, whereas the other was a grave miscalculation of reactions that would come from the world.
“Several conflicts in the Islamic world, the dispute between Iran and Saudi Arabia, sectarian tensions, outgoing civil wars, terror might have led them to expect that no strong unity, solidarity would come from the Islamic countries,” Kalın said, assuming a possible expectation of the White House.
“But look, Jerusalem united us all. It united Turkish politics too. Four political parties in [Turkey’s] parliament, as well as conflicting countries such as Iran and Saudi Arabia, signed the same declaration. From Europe to Africa, from Vatican to Christians in Middle East, a consensus has been formed,” he added.
Kalın stated that the main problem in the Palestinian question is Israel’s occupation, and Israel itself and its supporters insistently resort to various tactics and strategies to make the world forget about the occupation.