Turkey's leader calls for backing of UN motion on Jerusalem

Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan speaks during a meeting on refugees, in Ankara, Turkey, Monday, Dec. 18, 2017. (Murat Cetinmuhurdar/Pool Photo via AP)

ANKARA — Turkey's president is calling on nations to back a non-binding resolution that is expected to be brought to the UN General Assembly and seeks the cancellation of President Donald Trump's declaration of Jerusalem as Israel's capital.

Recep Tayyip Erdogan made the appeal yesterday during a joint news conference with Djibouti President Ismail Omar Guelleh, a day after the US vetoed such a resolution in the UN Security Council.

Fourteen other members of the Security Council supported the resolution — a move Erdogan described as "important and meaningful."

The Turkish leader said: "I invite all UN member countries to defend Jerusalem's historic status (in the 193-member General Assembly)."

Erdogan has been among the most vocal critics of Trump's decision to recognize Jerusalem.

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