On Saturday at the Istanbul Forum for Arab Journalists, Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu said that Turkey would continue to advocate for Palestine with regard to the United States decision to recognize Jerusalem as Israel's capital. "Although no one defended the Palestinian cause, or everybody keeps quiet on the Jerusalem case; Turkey never keeps quiet, Turkey will continue to defend the Palestinian cause," he said.

Speaking at the forum hosted by the Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality with the participation of prominent journalists from 18 Arab countries, Çavuşoğlu underlined that the U.S. decision increases tension in the region. "The U.S. decision does not contribute to the solution of the Middle East problem, but increases tension in the region. ... This decision by the U.S is wrong. We need to show a common position for this wrong decision. We have to say clearly in recent times in the Islamic world, especially in the Arab League, we are seeing little hesitancies and even seeing backward steps," he said.

Additionally, Çavuşoğlu said that Turkey has exerted great efforts for the recognition of East Jerusalem as the capital of Palestine, while he pointed to Ankara's international efforts for cooperation along with the European Union, United Nations and the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC). On Dec. 6, U.S. President Donald Trump announced his decision to recognize Jerusalem as Israel's capital and to relocate the U.S. Embassy from Tel Aviv to the holy city. The decision has been strongly opposed by the international community, including U.S. allies, with the exception of Israel.