Turkey wants to open an embassy in East Jerusalem, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has said after rallying Muslim leaders from across the world to recognise it as the capital of Palestine, calling the city its indivisible capital.

Palestinians want the capital of a future state they seek to be in East Jerusalem, which Israel took in the 1967 war and later annexed in a move not recognised by the rest of the world.

The Turkish embassy, along with others from around the globe, is currently in Tel-Aviv.

After President Donald Trump declared earlier this month that the United States will now recognise Jerusalem as the capital, President Erdoğan has stepped up his own pro-Palestine campaign.

He said in a speech to members of his AK Party in the southern Turkish province of Karaman today: ‘God willing, the day is close when officially, with God’s permission, we will open our embassy there.’

He told party members Turkey’s consulate general in Jerusalem was already represented by an ambassador.

A communique to the 57-state strong Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) at an extraordinary summit this week said Trump’s move is ‘null and void’ and he can no longer be ‘unbiased’ when it comes to peace talks in the Middle East.