The Turkish Trade Ministry announced that Turkey had stopped all trade with Israel owing to the latter’s non-stop violence against Palestinians in the Gaza Strip.
The action comes after Turkey imposed restrictions on a variety of shipments to Israel last month, which Ankara said on Thursday will remain in effect until a cease-fire in Gaza is secured.
In a statement, the Ministry recalled that Ankara had previously restricted the export of 54 product groups to Israel in April because the massacre, humanitarian catastrophe, and physical destruction caused by Israel continued, and the Israeli government 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”, the statement reads.
It went on to say, “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”.
“Turkey will strictly and decisively implement these new measures until the Israeli government allows the uninterrupted and sufficient flow of humanitarian aid to Gaza”, the statement continued.
“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 statement added.
According to the Turkish Statistical Institute, trade between the two nations was $6.8 billion in 2023, with Turkish exports accounting for 76% of the total.
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