Turkey joins call for 'Palestine' at Jakarta OIC meet

Turkey joins call for 'Palestine' at Jakarta OIC meet

Numan Kurtulmus joins OIC delegates in condemning Israel's occupation of Palestinian lands

Turkey's deputy prime minister has joined his Indonesian host in stressing the need to support Palestine at the opening of a summit of Muslim nations in Jakarta on Monday.

Numan Kurtulmus underlined to the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation’s (OIC) 5th Extraordinary Islamic Summit on Palestine and Al-Quds in Jakarta that Turkey will continue to bring up the Palestine issue "until it is resolved."

"The Palestine issue should be supported by international media, [and] every Muslim around the world should go and visit Jerusalem and Al Aqsa mosque," he said.

Earlier Monday, Indonesia's President Joko Widodo stressed that his country will always recognize Palestine, underlining that the limit of the international community's tolerance had ended long ago.

"Israel must immediately stop the illegal occupation over Palestine and its aggression," the president affirmed, adding that his country is always committed to supporting Palestine's independence through concrete measures.

"The OIC was set up to help Palestine so the OIC should be part of the Palestinian solution. If, it's not, the OICs existence will no longer be relevant. Once again, not relevant," he underlined, according to Indonesian news agency Antara

He warned, however, that for the resolution of problems in Palestine, Palestine must first be unified within.

"Indonesia will do whatever it can to secure this unity."

Indonesia -- which does not recognize Israel -- is hosting the two-day summit of the world’s largest intra-Islamic body at a time of increased tensions in the Middle Eastern region.

Since last October, a rise in Palestinian frustrations has been attributed to the insistence of extremist Jewish settlers -- often accompanied by Israeli security forces -- of forcing their way into East Jerusalem’s Al-Aqsa Mosque complex, Islam’s third holiest site.

Palestinian National Authority President Mahmoud Abbas conveyed his gratitude toward countries supporting Palestine's independence during his opening speech, stressing that they need “international support against Israel’s unlawful sanctions”.

"We aim to raise awareness of the problems faced by Palestine and its people," Abbas added.

Later Monday, the OIC is expected to accept and publish a declaration themed pursuit of peace in Palestine to which Turkey offered two articles during a November 2014 emergency meeting in Morocco.

The meeting followed the intensification of violations against Jerusalem and Haram Al-Sharif by Israel, and the entry of Israeli security forces into Al-Aqsa Mosque on Nov. 5 

Drafts of the documents on the pursuit of peace are reported to have been finalized and are ready to be endorsed at the heads of state meeting later Monday.

Indonesian Foreign Minister Retno LP Marsudi said Monday that the two documents -- one on the resolution containing a set of political calls from member countries, and the Jakarta Declaration, containing concrete steps to be pursued on the issue of Palestine -- were discussed among the 605 delegates from 57 countries that participated in the summit.

In her earlier opening address, Retno reiterated her country's support for Palestinian reconciliation and stated its commitment to assist in capacity building in the country.

"The government and people of Indonesia are ready to pledge $1.5 million annually for the next few years. In addition, Indonesia also recently contributed a $1 million grant through the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UNOCHA)," she said. 

During his speech Monday, Turkey's deputy prime minister reiterated that the international community should recognize Palestine under borders recognised prior to the Six-Day War of 1967, with its capital as East Jerusalem.

Kurtulmus highlighted the "injustice" of the Palestinian situation and "Israel's occupation of Palestinian lands" as the main problems facing the Middle East.

He added the struggle of the Palestinian people will be discussed during the annual gathering of OIC on April 14-15 in Istanbul.

Following the meeting, Kurtulmus went on to closed-to-the press meetings with Abbas and Indonesia's Vice President Jusuf Kalla, respectively.

Over 500 delegates from 49 member countries of the OIC, two observer countries, five representatives of the United Nations Security Council's permanent members, and a UN special envoy to the Quarter on the Middle East, attended the summit.