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Hundreds flock to US diplomatic compounds in Ankara & Istanbul to protest Trump’s Middle East peace plan - PHOTO

29 January 2020 04:26 (UTC +04:00)

Demonstrators have flooded the streets outside the US embassy in Ankara and the consulate in Istanbul, venting their rage over the newly-unveiled ‘deal of the century’ that Turkey has slammed as an “annexation plan,” APA reports citing RT.

Hours after the much-hyped Middle East peace plan was announced by US President Donald Trump, demonstrators in Turkey’s two biggest cities came out in force to protest the roadmap to peace that many argue is skewed in favor of Tel Aviv.

Videos posted on social media show demonstrators chanting slogans and waving Palestinian as well as Turkish banners, as they marched towards the US embassy in the Turkish capital. The rally, organized almost on the spot shortly after Trump’s announcement, drew in a huge crowd. Many could be seen holding their smartphones up to the night skies, turning the streets into a sea of light.

Hundreds turned out in Istanbul as well, voicing support for Palestinians who have already rejected the plan. Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas branded it a “conspiracy deal," adding that it was impossible for Palestinians to accept a solution where Jerusalem would remain the US-recognized capital of Israel.

While majority of the US allies in the region have either expressed cautious optimism about the arrangement, or endorsed it, Turkey has lambasted the “stillborn” plan, calling it an “attempt to kill the two-state solution” and annex Palestinian territory.

"We will always stand by the brotherly people of Palestine. We will continue to work for an independent Palestine within Palestinian lands,” the Turkish Foreign Ministry said.