US Shows Bias In Middle East Peace Process By Closing Palestine's PLO Office - Ankara

The United States has lost its unbiased position in the Middle East peace process when it closed the office of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) in Washington, the Turkish Foreign Ministry's spokesman Hami Aksoy said Tuesday.

ANKARA (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 11th September, 2018) The United States has lost its unbiased position in the middle East peace process when it closed the office of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) in Washington, the Turkish Foreign Ministry's spokesman Hami Aksoy said Tuesday.

On Monday, the US State Department announced that the US authorities had decided to close the PLO headquarters in Washington over Palestine's push to encourage the International Criminal Court (ICC) to launch an investigation into Israel's alleged war crimes, as well as its failure to support the US efforts to resolve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

"The decision to close the PLO office in Washington is a cause for concern and is another indication that the US has lost its objective position in the Middle East peace process.

This decision will serve no other purpose than encouraging attempts to destroy the prospects for a settlement between the two states [Israel and Palestine]," Aksoy's statement, received by Sputnik, reads.

The spokesman added that Turkey would continue to stand by the Palestinian people and support international efforts to find a solution to the conflict.

In August, US State Department spokeswoman Healther Nauert said that the US administration had also stopped all funding for the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) after a careful review found the organization to be unsustainable. The UNRWA denied this and promised to look for new donors.