Erdoğan meets Palestine's Abbas with Jerusalem high on agenda

President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan met with his Palestinian counterpart Mahmoud Abbas in Istanbul late Tuesday ahead of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) emergency summit to be held on Wednesday.

According to a Turkish presidential source, who spoke on condition of anonymity due to restrictions on speaking to the media, the leaders met at the Beylerbeyi Palace, where they had a closed-door meeting that lasted for one hour.

Wednesday's summit in Istanbul follows Erdoğan's call on OIC member countries to gather extraordinarily after the U.S. recognized Jerusalem as Israel's capital.

Tension has mounted in Palestinian territories since last week's controversial decision by Trump to move the U.S. embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. Israeli security forces have so far killed two Palestinians and injured several hundred during demonstrations against the declaration.
Jerusalem remains at the heart of the Israel-Palestine conflict, with Palestinians hoping that East Jerusalem — occupied by Israel since 1967 — might eventually serve as the capital of a Palestinian state.

During his election campaign last year, Trump repeatedly promised to relocate the U.S. embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.