War on Gaza: Turkey Suspends Trade Activities With Israel

President Recep Erdogan’s government has announced the suspension of all trade activities with Israel.

The Turkish trade ministry said the decision to halt “export and import transactions” with Israel was on the premise of unleashing “worsening humanitarian tragedy” in the Palestinian territories.

“Export and import transactions related to Israel have been stopped, covering all products,” Turkey’s trade ministry said in a statement.

Recall that Turkey is a staunch critic of the Israeli government led by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for attacks on Gaza since the October 7 assaults by Hamas.

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Speaking on its latest decision to halt trade transactions, Turkey set a condition that it would lift its embargo on lsrael if it chooses to offer unlimited humanitarian aid to Gaza.

“Turkey will strictly and decisively implement these new measures until the Israeli Government allows an uninterrupted and sufficient flow of humanitarian aid to Gaza,” the trade ministry said.

The two countries had a trade volume of $6.8 billion in 2023.

Turkey last month imposed trade restrictions on Israel over what it said was Israel’s refusal to allow Ankara to take part in aid air-drop operations for Gaza and its offensive on the enclave.

Earlier on Thursday, Israel’s Foreign Affairs Minister, Israel Katzsaid, said Erdogan was breaking agreements by blocking ports for Israeli imports and exports.

“This is how a dictator behaves, disregarding the interests of the Turkish people and businessmen, and ignoring international trade agreements,” Katz posted on social media platform X.

Katz said he instructed the foreign ministry to work to create alternatives for trade with Turkey, focusing on local production and imports from other countries.