Palestinians have right to east Jerusalem as capital: Saudi king

RIYADH: Palestinians have the right to east Jerusalem as their capital, Saudi King Salman said Wednesday, echoing made at the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) extraordinary summit in Istanbul which he did not attend.

“The kingdom has called for a political solution to resolve regional crises, foremost of which is the Palestinian issue and the restoration of the Palestinian people’s legitimate rights, including the right to establish their independent state with east Jerusalem as its capital,” the king said.

King Salman’s address to the kingdom’s Consultative Council came as the OIC held an emergency summit in Istanbul in response to last week’s US recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital.

During the summit, Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan urged the world to recognise occupied East Jerusalem as the “capital of Palestine”.

“I am inviting the countries who value international law and fairness to recognise occupied Jerusalem as the capital of Palestine,” Erdogan said, adding that Muslim countries would “never give up” on this demand.

Palestinian President Mahmood Abbas in his address at the summit called the decision of US President Donald Trump a “flagrant violation of international law”.

“Jerusalem is and will forever be the capital of the Palestinian state,” Abbas told the meeting.

Abbas warned that there could be “no peace or stability” in the Middle East until Jerusalem is recognised as the capital of a Palestinian state.