Turkey suspended its commercial relations with Israel on Thursday, May 2, after having already restricted its exports to this country in April in response to the war in Gaza, the Turkish Ministry of Commerce announced. “Exports and imports in relation to Israel have been suspended,” the ministry said, marking a new stage in the deterioration of relations between the two countries.
“Turkey will strictly implement these new measures until the Israeli government allows an uninterrupted flow of humanitarian aid to Gaza,” the ministry added in a statement.
Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz said earlier Thursday that Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan had “broken agreements [between Israel and Turkey] by blocking Israeli imports and exports at ports.” The head of Israeli diplomacy said he wanted to “create alternative options for trade with Turkey, focusing on local production and imports from other countries.”
Growing anger among the Turkish population
The Turkish trade minister did not specify whether Azerbaijani oil exports to Israel via the Turkish port of Ceyhan (South) were affected by Ankara’s decision. According to analysts, cited by Agence France-Presse, more than a third of Israel’s oil needs until recently transited through this Turkish port in the Mediterranean.
In response to the war in Gaza and growing anger among the Turkish population against maintaining trade relations with Israel, Turkey restricted exports to Israel of many goods in early April, including products made of steel, iron and aluminum.
