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Turkey to open Paraguay embassy after it moved mission back to Tel Aviv

Paraguayan Foreign Minister Luis Alberto Castiglioni speaks during a press conference at the Foreign Ministry on September 05, 2018. (Photo by AFP)

Paraguay says Turkey will open an embassy in its capital Asuncion to express support for the South American country’s decision to move back its embassy from the occupied city of Jerusalem al-Quds to Tel Aviv.

Paraguay newly elected President Mario Abdo reversed a decision made by his predecessor Horacio Cartes in May to relocate the diplomatic mission to the occupied Palestinian city after US President Donald Trump recognized Jerusalem al-Quds as Israel's “capital” earlier in December.    

Paraguay Foreign Minister Luis Castiglioni said his country wants to contribute to an intensification of regional diplomatic efforts to achieve a broad, fair and lasting peace in the Middle East.

This has prompted Israel to close its embassy in Paraguay.

Turkey is expressing support for Paraguay’s stance on Israel by opening the embassy, Castiglioni told reporters.

The top Paraguayan diplomat said on Friday that he expected to meet his Turkish counterpart at the United Nations General Assembly in New York this month.

Turkey’s ambassador to Paraguay has been operating out from Argentina. Ankara has a consulate in Asuncion and another in the country's second largest city, Ciudad del Este.

Castiglioni also described Israel’s decision to close its embassy in Asuncion as hasty and disproportionate.

Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas celebrated as “courageous” the reversal, which will be a setback to the momentum Israel had hoped to build after the US moved its embassy to Jerusalem al-Quds in May.

The Palestinian Authority’s Prime Minister Rami Hamdallah also thanked Paraguay for its decision.

The new government in the South American country is under pressure by Washington to stick to the former government’s decision.

US Vice President Mike Pence “strongly encouraged” President Mario Abdo in a phone conversation on Wednesday to follow through with Paraguay’s commitment to move the embassy to Jerusalem “as a sign of the historic relationship the country has maintained with both Israel and the United States,” according to a statement from Pence's office.

The statement did not say how Abdo responded to Pence’s request. It only said that Abdo “underscored Paraguay's lasting partnership with Israel and the leaders agreed to work towards achieving a comprehensive and lasting solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.”

Pence had a crucial role in Washington’s decision to move its embassy to Jerusalem al-Quds, a city which the Palestinians, with international support, want as the capital of a future independent state.

The US embassy relocation took place on May 14, the eve of the 70th anniversary of the Nakba Day (the Day of Catastrophe), sparking international condemnation and deadly clashes in the besieged Gaza Strip.


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