Turkey: US move on Golan Heights ‘unlawful’

Turkey does not recognize the “unlawful” US’s decision to recognize Israel’s sovereignty over the occupied Golan Heights in Syria, the Turkish foreign minister said on Wednesday.

“NULL AND VOID”

Speaking in northwestern Tekirdag province, Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu said the US move is “null and void” that violates international law. “We object to your the US decision and we don’t recognize it,” Çavuşoğlu said.

On Monday, Trump signed a presidential proclamation officially recognizing the Golan Heights as Israeli territory. The UN said the Golan Heights is still considered an “occupied territory” under international law, despite Trump’s announcement. Israel occupies roughly two-thirds of the wider Golan Heights as a de facto result of the 1967 Arab-Israeli conflict. It moved to formally annex the territory in 1981 an action unanimously rejected at the time by the UN Security Council.

Meanwhile, Devlet Bahçeli, head of Turkey’s opposition Nationalist Movement Party, said the Trump’s decision to benefit Israel “will bear no results.”