UN's de facto recognition of Palestinian state hailed
By Sara Rajabova
Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan has become the first world leader to congratulate Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas as the 193-nation UN General Assembly overwhelmingly approved the de facto recognition of the sovereign state of Palestine on Thursday, Reuters reported.
Government sources reportedly said Erdogan had called on Abbas following the vote at the UN and said he congratulates all Palestinians on their new statehood. Erdogan told Abbas that Turkey will continue to stand by the Palestinians in their rightful cause.
There were 138 votes in favor, nine against the measure and 41 abstentions. Three countries did not take part in the vote, held on the 65th anniversary of the adoption of the UN resolution on the division of Palestine into two states.
The UN General Assembly resolution, passed on November 29, 1947, called for Palestine to be partitioned between Arabs and Jews, allowing for the formation of the Jewish state of Israel in 1948.
According to the BBC, Israel, US and seven other states - Canada, the Marshall Islands, Panama, Czech Republic, Micronesia, Nauru and Palau - voted against the resolution. UK and Germany abstained from voting.
Among big countries which supported Palestine were EU states, Russia, Turkey, Brazil, China, Lebanon, SAR, South Korea, Norway, Pakistan, Mexico and others.
Opponents of the bid say a Palestinian state should emerge only out of bilateral negotiations, as set out in the 1993 Oslo peace accords under which the Palestinian Authority was established.
While delivering a speech at the UN General Assembly, Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said recognition of Palestinian statehood is an obligation for the international community, Anadolu news agency reported on Friday.
Davutoglu said the international community had been called upon to honor its already belated obligation to the Palestinians and grant them the status of a "non-member state".
"Today, we are talking about a whole history of this national tragedy continuing for more than 65 years," he said.
"The reality about Palestine is simple, yet a harsh one. It is on the streets of Gaza where thousands of people live through an inhumane blockade in an open prison," Davutoglu added.
The Turkish FM said he was pleased to participate in this historical meeting at the General Assembly.
"We have gathered here for correcting a historical injustice against the Palestinian people," he said.
"For that future we should... stand together behind the Palestinian bid to become a non-member observer state. This is a moment of truth for all of us. We are all aware that the right of the Palestinians to a state has been unfortunately denied for decades," Davutoglu said.
"If we are to talk about an international order and place our trust on the UN system, then the Palestinian flag should rise by this building. Our vision for justice, international order and human rights will not be achieved until the moment we actually see the flag of the State of Palestine standing side by side with ours, as a full member of the United Nations," he said.
"We regret to see that there have been efforts to deter the Palestinians in their bid at the UN and efforts to dissuade the UN members," he said.
"I call on all UN members to fulfill their long overdue responsibility towards the Palestinians," Davutoglu added.
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, in a message to the UN General Assembly on Thursday, reiterated that the best solution to the Palestinian issue is holding free elections with the participation of all Palestinians, including Muslims, Christians and Jews, IRNA news agency reported.
Iran's Ambassador to the UN Mohammad Khazaee read out President Ahmadinejad's message at the UN General Assembly meeting, which was held for voting on the upgrade of Palestinian status to observer member.
The message said the attitude of the international community in resolving the Palestinian issue due to discriminatory and unilateral policies of some member states of the UN Security Council has resulted in continuing the crisis and endangering international peace and security.
The head of the Organization of the Islamic Cooperation (OIC) Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu also welcomed Palestine's becoming a "non-member observer state" at the UN.
Ihsanoglu deemed the UN resolution an historic achievement towards "ending the Israeli occupation and the restoration of the legitimate Palestinian rights".
Ihsanoglu congratulated President Abbas and the Palestinian people, stressing that this political victory has irreversibly put on record the right of the Palestinian people to statehood.
However, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton called the vote "unfortunate and counterproductive," while the Vatican praised the move and called for an internationally guaranteed special status for Jerusalem, something bound to irritate Israel.
"It creates further obstacles in the path to peace, this is why the U.S. voted against the resolution," US Ambassador Susan Rice said after the UN General Assembly voted to upgrade the Palestinian status in the world organization, from a simple observer to that of a non-member state observer.
Rice said the UN vote cannot settle the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and "for this reason, today's vote should not be misconstrued by any as constituting eligibility for UN membership. It does not. This resolution does not establish that Palestine is a state."
Besides, the assembly approved the upgrade despite threats by the United States and Israel to punish the Palestinians by withholding funds for the West Bank government. UN envoys said Israel might not retaliate harshly against the Palestinians over the vote as long as they do not seek to join the International Criminal Court.
If the Palestinians were to join the ICC, they could file complaints with the court accusing Israel of war crimes, crimes against humanity and other serious crimes.
Thousands of Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza Strip greeted the Thursday vote with high jubilation as it formally gives them global recognition.
President Abbas submitted Palestine's official bid for recognition as an independent state in the UN in September 2011. That bid was blocked by a US veto in the Security Council.