The Turkish government warned on Wednesday that the expected US move to recognize Al-Quds (Jerusalem ) as the Israeli capital risks igniting a “fire” in the Middle East and will prove a “great disaster”.

The recognition will “throw the region and the world into a fire and it’s not known when it will end”, Deputy Prime Minister and government spokesman Bekir Bozdag wrote on Twitter.

He warned that the move was a “great disaster for everyone” that would lead the way to “turmoil, chaos and clashes” and could produce “unpleasant things that we have not foreseen”.

The recognition of the city as Israeli capital and the moving of the US embassy from Tel Aviv to Al-Quds — expected to be announced by President Donald Trump later Wednesday — showed “great intolerance and mindlessness”, Bozdag said.

Bozdag added that the recognition would “destroy the peace process”, saying that the issue of Al-Quds was the key to peace in the Middle East and the world.

For his part, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu told reporters in Brussels ahead of meeting US counterpart Rex Tillerson that the move is a “mistake” that “will not bring stability and peace but rather chaos and instability.”

Asked whether he would bring the issue up with Tillerson, the minister said: “I have already told him and I will tell him again.”

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan had warned earlier on Tuesday that the status of Al-Quds is a “red line” for Muslims and could even prompt Turkey to cut ties with the Zionist entity.

Source: AFP