Turkey recalls US, Israel envoys, declares 3 days of mourning over Palestinian deaths

Turkey is recalling its ambassadors to Washington and Tel Aviv, and declaring 3 days of mourning to commemorate Palestinians killed by Israeli forces, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan announced late Monday.

Speaking in London before his flight back to Ankara, Erdoğan said, as the Rotating Chairman of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), he will chair an extraordinary meeting on Friday regarding the Palestinian deaths and called on the United Nations Security Council to gather for an emergency meeting.

Gaza experienced its bloodiest massacre since 2014 on Monday, as the Israeli military killed at least 52 Palestinians and wounded more than 2,400 others as protesters streamed to the frontier for the climax of a six-week demonstration as the United States prepared to open its embassy in Jerusalem.

Earlier in the day, the Foreign Ministry had also strongly condemned the attacks in a written statement.

"We curse the massacre carried out by Israeli security forces encouraged by this step on the Palestinians participating in peaceful demonstrations. Neither regional nor global peace and stability will be viable unless the Palestinian question is settled through a lasting and just solution and unfair treatments towards Palestinian people cease," the statement said.

"We strongly condemn the decision of the U.S. Administration to move its embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem violating international law and all relevant UN Resolutions. We reiterate that this action is legally null and void," it added.

The Foreign Ministry once more emphasized that the U.S. move "disregards the legitimate rights of the Palestinian people" and "will not serve peace, security and stability in the region."