According to the Turkish Trade Ministry, the decision to stop “export and import transactions” with Israel was made because it feared that the situation in the Palestinian territories would worsen.
The trade ministry of Turkey issued a statement saying, “All products linked to Israel have been blocked from import and export.”
Remember that since Hamas’s attacks on Gaza on October 7, Turkey has been a vocal opponent of the Israeli government, led by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Speaking on its most recent move to suspend commerce, Turkey stated that it would only lift its embargo on Israel if the country decided to provide Gaza with unrestricted humanitarian aid.
According to the trade ministry, “Turkey will strictly and decisively implement these new measures until the Israeli Government allows an uninterrupted and sufficient flow of humanitarian aid to Gaza.”
In 2023, commerce between the two nations amounted to $6.8 billion.
Turkey placed trade sanctions on Israel last month due to what it claimed to be Israel’s denial of Ankara’s participation in humanitarian airdrop operations for Gaza and its enclave invasion.
Erdogan is violating agreements by closing ports to Israeli imports and exports, according to Israel Katzsaid, the country’s minister of foreign affairs, who made this claim earlier on Thursday.
“On social media platform X, Katz wrote, ‘This is how a dictator behaves, ignoring the interests of Turkish people and businessmen and ignoring international trade agreements.”
Katz said he directed the foreign ministry to develop trade options with Turkey, emphasizing domestic manufacturing and imports from other nations.
