Turkey confirmed it would halt all trade with Israel until the country allows uninterrupted and sufficient flow of humanitarian aid to Gaza, after two officials familiar with the matter said the pause went into effect earlier Thursday, Bloomberg reports.
Turkey decided to expand last month’s restriction on some Turkish exports to Israel due to the “worsening humanitarian tragedy in Palestine,” the Trade Ministry said in a statement, adding that work was underway to make sure that Palestinians were not adversely affected.
The Turkish Commerce Ministry said the measures would be in place until Israel allowed an “uninterrupted and sufficient flow” of aid to Gaza.
Trade between the two countries was worth almost $7 billion last year.
Israel’s foreign minister accused Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan of acting like a “dictator.”
Israel Katz said in X that Erdogan was “disregarding the interests of the Turkish people and businessmen and ignoring international trade agreements.”
He added that he had instructed the Foreign Ministry to look for alternatives for trade with Turkey, focusing on local production and imports from other countries.
In a statement, Türkiye said the trade suspension covered “all products.”
“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 1949, Türkiye was the first Muslim-majority country to recognize Israel. But relations have worsened in recent decades.
In 2010, Turkey broke diplomatic relations with Israel after 10 Turkish pro-Palestinian activists were killed in clashes with Israeli commandos who boarded a Turkish-owned ship attempting to break Israel’s maritime blockade of the Gaza Strip.
Relations were restored in 2016, but both countries expelled each other two years later in a dispute over Israel’s killing of Palestinians amid protests on the Gaza-Israel border.
Erdogan has become increasingly strident in his criticism of Israel since Hamas’ deadly attack on Israel on October 7 last year.
In January, he said the military offensive that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu launched in response was “nothing less than what Hitler did.”
Netanyahu responded: “Erdogan, who commits genocide against the Kurds, who has a world record for imprisoning journalists who oppose his government, is the last person who can preach morality to us.”
