Türkiye announces the complete cessation of commercial operations with Israel
Bloomberg revealed, on Thursday, that Türkiye has stopped all export and import operations with Israel, in a step complementary to Ankara’s decision early last month to impose restrictions on the exports of 54 products to Israel.
Bloomberg quoted Turkish officials, saying that Ankara decided to stop all export and import operations to and from Israel, starting, Thursday.
In response to Ankara’s decision, Israeli Foreign Minister Yisrael Katz strongly attacked President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, considering that the latter ignores the interests of the Turkish people, as he claimed.
Katz said in a blog post on his account on X, “Erdogan violates the agreements by closing the ports to Israeli imports and exports”.
He added, “This is the way the dictator behaves, ignoring the interests of the Turkish people and Turkish businessmen, and ignoring international trade agreements,” he said.
Katz stressed that he issued directives to the occupation Ministry of Foreign Affairs to work to find alternatives to trade with Türkiye, with a focus on local production and imports from other countries.
On April 9, Türkiye imposed restrictions on the exports of 54 products to Israel with the aim of pushing it to a ceasefire in Gaza.
Ankara, through its Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan, linked its decision to restrict exports, which included construction materials and aviation fuel, to Israel’s obstruction of Turkish efforts to carry out airdrops of humanitarian aid into the Gaza Strip.
It should be noted that during the past month, Türkiye has taken rapid steps to emphasize its unequivocal support for Palestine and its resistance by taking many important decisions, including its announcement last Wednesday of its joining South Africa’s lawsuit against the Israeli occupation before the International Court of Justice.
