FNA- Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan announced that Ankara will open an embassy in East Jerusalem, after the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), in a statement issued following an extraordinary summit in Istanbul, declared East Jerusalem the capital of Palestine.

Erdogan said Sunday Turkey wants to open an embassy in East Jerusalem, following a decision by the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) to recognize East Jerusalem as the capital of the Palestinian state, Hurriyet Daily News reported.

“We have already declared East Jerusalem as the capital of the Palestinian state but we haven’t been able to open our embassy there because Jerusalem is currently under occupation. God willing we will open our embassy there,” he added, speaking at a ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) meeting in the Central Anatolian province of Karaman.

Turkey’s Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu has also suggested that Ankara will consider opening an embassy in East Jerusalem once an independent Palestinian state is internationally recognized.

Turkey's leader on Friday signaled his readiness to appeal to the UN in a bid to try to cancel Washington's decision to recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel.

Erdogan also warned that Muslims may lose Mecca and other holy sites if the US decision to recognize Jerusalem as Israeli capital isn’t reversed.

The President had also slammed Israel as a state defined by "occupation" and "terror", stressing that “The US decision on Jerusalem rewards Israel’s acts of terror".

US President Donald Trump announced last Wednesday that Washington would be recognizing Jerusalem al-Quds as Israel’s capital, stressing that the United States would relocate the embassy in the occupied lands from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem al-Quds.

The move was hailed by Israel but condemned by the rest of the international community as one which undermines the peace talks.

Washington’s al-Quds move has raised a chorus of outcry across the international community. The Muslim world, the UN, world leaders from Europe to the Middle East to Australia, and even US allies in the West have criticized the bid, saying it would plunge the already tumultuous region into new upheaval.

Heavy clashes also broke out between Israeli troops and Palestinian protesters after Washington's decision in Jerusalem al-Qud's Old City, Hebron (al-Khalil), Bethlehem and Nablus in the West Bank as well as the besieged Gaza Strip.

According to reports, thousands of Palestinians were wounded by Israeli army's fire during protests against the US decision to recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel, while hundreds more were detained by Israeli forces and police. Also, the clashes between Palestinians and Israeli soldiers left ten dead.

Also, the Palestinian ministry of public health in Gaza announced that the Israeli occupation forces use unknown gas bombs which caused cases of stress, convulsion, vomiting, coughing and rapid heartbeat among the Palestinian civilians. It stressed that the Zionist forces fire bullets directly on the Palestinian protestors.

The Israeli regime forces use brutal and excessive force against the civilians and the rescue teams as well as the medics, according to the Palestinian ministry which called for denouncing the racist actions of the Israeli authorities.

People in different countries have also hit the streets to denounce Trump's recognition of Jerusalem al-Quds as Israel’s capital.

The Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), in a statement issued following an extraordinary summit in Turkey's Istanbul on Wednesday, declared East Jerusalem the capital of Palestine "under occupation" and urged the US to withdraw from the peace process and back down from its Jerusalem decision.