Turkey has announced a significant diplomatic move in response to ongoing violence in the Gaza Strip, declaring a halt to all trade activities with Israel.
The Turkish Trade Ministry cited Israel’s continued violence against Palestinians as the reason behind this decision.
The move follows Turkey’s imposition of restrictions on an array of exports to Israel since last month, which Ankara said would remain in effect until a ceasefire in Gaza is achieved.
In a statement, the ministry recalled that Ankara previously restricted the export of 54 product groups to Israel in April because the massacre, humanitarian catastrophe and physical destruction caused by Israel continued.
“The Israeli government continued to ignored international ceasefire efforts and blocked humanitarian aid.
“It is observed that the Israeli government continues its aggressive behavior and the humanitarian tragedy in Palestine worsens.
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“In this respect, the second phase of the measures taken at the state level has been initiated and export and import transactions with Israel have been suspended for all products,” read the statement.
“Turkey will strictly and decisively implement these new measures until the Israeli government allows the uninterrupted and sufficient flow of humanitarian aid to Gaza,” it added.
On the other hand, the Turkish Trade Ministry is coordinating with Palestinian authorities to ensure that Palestinian people “who are forced to live under occupation” are not affected by these restrictions, the ministry noted.
The Turkish Statistical Institute noted that trade between the two countries amounted to 6.8 billion U.S. dollars in 2023, with Turkish exports accounting for 76 per cent of the total.
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