Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan held phone talks with French President Emmanuel Macron on Saturday, during which the parties discussed Washington's decision to move the US embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, Turkish NTV news channel reported.
According to the media source, Erdogan told Macron that the international community should protect the historical status of Jerusalem, with the parties reportedly having agreed to cooperate in the area in order to convince US President Donald Trump to change his decision on the issue.
Earlier on Saturday, the Turkish leader also discussed the topic with Azerbaijan's President Ilham Aliyev, Kazakhstan's head Nursultan Nazarbayev and Lebanon's leader Michel Aoun.
READ MORE: Possible Motives Behind Trump's Recognition of Jerusalem as Israel's Capital
He also noted that the decision of the United States, a permanent member of the UN Security Council, to move its embassy to Jerusalem undermines the reputation of the United Nations.
"This statement is a big blow to the United Nations Security Council, to which the US is also a member…. The United Nations cannot have any credibility if even its Security Council's permanent members do not respect it," Erdogan said, as quoted by the Anadolu news agency.
The Turkish president also stressed that Donald Trump's move contravened international law.
"Leaders of the big countries are tasked with making peace, not to create conflicts…. I am saying this loud and clear, being strong does not mean being right," Erdogan was quoted as saying.
On Wednesday, US President Donald Trump announced his decision to recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel, saying the initiative was a "recognition of reality" and marked "the beginning of a new approach" to the conflict between Israel and Palestine. The move ended Washington's longtime neutrality on the status of Jerusalem, one of the thorniest issues in the conflict.
