Turkey criticises US veto of UN resolution on Jerusalem

Turkey on Monday criticised the US veto of the UN resolution on Jerusalem, saying it is was the indication of "lost objectivity."

“We regret that the draft resolution on Jerusalem submitted to the UN Security Council was vetoed with one vote against despite 14 votes in favour,” a Foreign Ministry statement said.

“This [US’ veto of UN resolution on Jerusalem] revealed once more that the US has lost its objectivity," the statement said.

"The United States being left alone in the vote is a concrete sign of the illegality of its decision on Jerusalem," the statement added.

The US had earlier vetoed a UN Security Council resolution that rejects the establishment of diplomatic facilities in the contested city of Jerusalem.

The move comes less than two weeks after Washington moved to recognize the holy city as Israel's capital and begin the process to move its embassy there from Tel Aviv — the city where all other nations house their main diplomatic facilities.

Later on Monday, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and British Prime Minister Theresa May discussed the blocking of the resolution in a phone call, and agreed that new tensions that could endanger the peace process in the region should be avoided, sources in Erdogan's office said.

Erdogan has taken a leading position in opposing the US move to recognise Jerusalem as Israel's capital, hosting representatives from more than 50 Muslim countries in Istanbul last week for a summit in response.

A communique issued after the summit said the participants considered the move to be a declaration that Washington was withdrawing from its role "as sponsor of peace" in the Middle East.

Trump's decision broke with decades of US policy and international consensus that Jerusalem's status must be left to Israeli-Palestinian talks, leading to harsh criticisms from Muslim countries and Israel's closest European allies, who have also rejected the move.

Last week, Erdogan said Turkey would seek the annulment of the move at the UN General Assembly if its initiatives in the Security Council failed.

"All countries except for the Trump administration acted in unison in this vote. Now the UN General Assembly period will start," Ibrahim Kalin, Turkey's presidential spokesman, said on Twitter.