Erdogan says US can’t buy Turkish support on Jerusalem

ISTANBUL: President Tayyip Erdogan told the United States on Thursday it could not buy Turkey’s support in a vote at the United Nations on Jerusalem, and said he hoped the world would teach Washington a lesson.

“Mr. Trump, you cannot buy Turkey’s democratic will with your dollars”, Erdogan said after US President Donald Trump threatened to cut aid to countries that support a draft UN resolution calling for the United States to withdraw its decision to recognize Jerusalem as Israel’s capital.

Read More: Erdogan says Turkey aims to open embassy in East Jerusalem

“I hope and expect the United States won’t get the result it expects from there (the United nations) and the world will give a very good lesson to the United States,” Erdogan said in a speech in Ankara.

Trump’s Dec. 6 decision to recognize Jerusalem as Israel’s capital broke with decades of US policy and international consensus that the city’s status must be left to Israeli-Palestinian peace negotiations.

Jerusalem, revered by Jews, Christians and Muslims alike, is home to Islam’s third holiest shrine as well as Judaism’s Western Wall – both in the eastern sector – and has been at the heart of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict for decades.

Read More: Trump warns ‘we’re watching’ on eve of UN Jerusalem vote

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