OAN’s James Myers
10:07am – Friday, May 3, 2024
Turkey announced on Friday that it would suspend all trade with Israel, worth $7 billion a year, until a permanent ceasefire and humanitarian aid is secured in the Gaza Strip.
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Citing Israel’s military offensive against Hamas, the Turkish Trade Ministry announced that “import and export transactions related to Israel have been suspended for all products.”
“Turkey will strictly and resolutely implement these new measures until the Israeli government allows an uninterrupted and sufficient flow of humanitarian aid to Gaza.”
A senior Israeli government official accused Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan of breaking trade agreements by “blockading Israel’s import and export ports.”
“Ignoring the interests of the Turkish people and businessmen and ignoring international trade agreements is the behavior of a dictator,” Israeli Foreign Minister Yisrael Katz wrote on X on Thursday.
Israel is among Turkey’s top 20 export destinations, purchasing up to $5.4 billion worth of goods and services. Turkey’s top exports to Israel are electrical equipment, steel, automobiles, plastics, and machinery. Reuters.
Türkiye’s imports from Israel reached $1.6 billion.
Katz also ordered the head of Israel’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs to “immediately work with all stakeholders within the government to create alternatives to trade with Turkey, with a focus on domestic production and imports from other countries.” He added that he did.
“Israel will emerge with a strong and bold economy,” he wrote.
Meanwhile, Turkey has been Israel’s harshest critic as its conflict with Hamas continues, with President Recep Tayyip Erdogan calling Israel a “terrorist state”. According to the Turkish government, 99 percent of Türkiye’s population is Muslim.
President Erdogan has continually claimed that Israel is committing “genocide” against Palestinians in the Gaza Strip and is known for defending Hamas, calling terrorists a “liberation group.” There is.
And last month, Turkey announced trade restrictions on exports to Israel of 54 items, including cement, steel, aluminum and iron construction materials and equipment, in response to the war.
Hamas praised Turkey’s move to suspend trade with Israel.
“We highly appreciate the recent decisions taken by the Republic of Turkey to support the Palestinian people who are suffering horrific massacres. These include the suspension of trade with the occupying power,” Hamas said on Friday. said in a statement.
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