Türkiye has announced a complete cessation of trade with Israel until sufficient humanitarian aid is provided to the war-torn Gaza Strip.
According to Bloomberg, the Turkish Ministry of Trade stated on February 2nd (local time), “With the initiation of the second phase of government-level (export control) measures, all import and export transactions related to Israel have been halted.” They added, “Türkiye will firmly enforce this measure until the Israeli government allows sufficient, uninterrupted humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip.”
According to the Turkish Statistical Institute, last year’s bilateral trade volume was $6.8 billion. Of this, 76% was Türkiye’s exports to Israel. According to the Israeli Central Bureau of Statistics, Israel’s imports from Türkiye amounted to $4.6 billion during the same period, ranking it the sixth largest importer. The main imports from Türkiye were steel, machinery, minerals, fuel, and agricultural products.
Israel immediately retaliated. Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz criticized Türkiye on Twitter, stating: “Türkiye has violated the agreement and blocked the ports for Israeli imports and exports. This is a dictator’s behavior that ignores international trade agreements and disregards the interests of Turkish citizens and businesses.” Israel emphasized that it would find alternatives to Turkish trade by increasing domestic production and looking for other importing countries.
Türkiye took this action a day after deciding to participate in the genocide lawsuit against Israel, which was filed at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) by South Africa, following criticism that Israel is committing mass murder in Palestinian territories. Although Israel and Türkiye had restored diplomatic relations and sought ways to enhance cooperation after ten years in August last year, relations deteriorated again when war broke out between the Palestinian armed group Hamas and Israel in October. Earlier this month, when the Turkish government decided to limit exports to Israel for dozens of items, Israel responded by saying it would not import other Turkish products.
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