President Md Abdul Hamid has arrived in Istanbul to attend a special summit of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) to discuss the US’s controversial decision to recognise Jerusalem as the capital of Israel.
The president landed at TAV Istanbul Ataturk Airport at 4:00am local time on Tuesday. He had departed Dhaka aboard a Turkish Airlines flight at 10:30pm on Monday.
Hamid was welcomed at the airport by Bangladesh Ambassador to Turkey M Allama Siddiki and Istanbul Consulate General Mohammad Monirul Islam, according to a bdnews24 report.
The president left the airport and arrived at the Conrad Istanbul Bosphorus Hotel, where he will be staying during the trip.
Turkish President and current OIC chair Recep Tayyip Erdogan called the summit after US President Donald Trump reversed decades of US foreign policy to recognise Jerusalem as the capital of Israel on Dec 6. The US said it would also move its embassy from its current location in Tel Aviv accordingly.
Jerusalem is regarded as a holy city by Muslims, Christians and Jews. Israel claims that Jerusalem is its capital. Palestinian leaders say East Jerusalem will be the capital of a future Palestinian state.
Palestinian protesters and Israeli forces have clashed in various cities since the announcement. Arab countries, the EU and the UN have all criticised the Trump administration’s decision.
Palestinian Islamist resistance group Hamas has called for a third intifada (mass protest) in the wake of the US decision.
Bangladesh also joined the international community to condemn Trump’s announcement.
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina said the move would jeopardise the peace efforts Washington itself had initiated.
The US decision was heavily criticised at a meeting of the UN Security Council on Friday. On Saturday, the Arab League held an emergency meeting in Cairo and called on the US to reverse the decision.
Turkish President Erdogan has lambasted the decision, calling the US a ‘partner in bloodshed’.
Erdogan also threatened to end diplomatic relations with Tel Aviv unless the decision is reversed.
President Hamid will return to Dhaka on Thursday following the summit.
