Moscow, June 1: The Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) has called on its member states on Saturday to take necessary actions to counter states who have settled trade missions or relocated their embassies to Jerusalem.
Al-Arabiya has quoted the final statement of the summit in Mecca which read: “[The OIC conference] calls on states that have relocated their embassies or opened trade missions in the Holy City, to relinquish this move … [and] called on its member states to take necessary measures to counter the states who chose to do this [relocate embassies to Jerusalem].”
The committee has stated it considered the relocation of embassies to Jerusalem by some nations as a clear and grave violation of international law, as well as sabotaging of the Middle East peace process, according to Sputnik news reports.
Moreover, the statement read the nation’s move to moving embassies “responds to interests of radicalism and terrorism; and threatens security and global peace”.
The United States has in December 2017 recognized Jerusalem as the capital of Israel and relocated the American embassy to Jerusalem on May 2-18 from Tel Aviv prompting an outrage of the Muslim world.
Honduras, Australia, the Czech Republic, Brazil, and Guatemala have followed the US and recognized Jerusalem as Israel’s capital. Meanwhile, United Nations (UN) has urged its member states to prevent moving their embassies and diplomatic missions to Jerusalem.
Both Palestine and Israel see Jerusalem as their capital, and the status of that city has been long regarded as an issue that must be resolved through the Israeli-Palestinian peace process.