Turkey denounced Israel’s “reckless attacks” across the Middle East. On Friday, it announced the closure of its airspace to Israeli aircraft.
Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan said Turkey also cut all economic and commercial ties with Israel due to the Gaza war. He added that Turkish ships may no longer visit Israeli ports.
Flight trackers showed Israeli commercial airlines still flew over Turkey to Georgia and Russia on Friday. This raised questions about the timing and scope of the airspace ban.
“Israel’s reckless attacks on Gaza, Lebanon, Yemen, Syria, and Iran show a terrorist state mentality defying international order,” Fidan said during an extraordinary parliamentary session.
By escalating its attacks on Gaza City, Israel defied international censure. It also launched raids on Yemen and landed troops in Syria this week, continuing airstrikes on Lebanon.
Numan Kurtulmus, Turkey’s parliament speaker, demanded Israel be barred from the UN and other international organizations for its actions in Gaza. Fidan said 52 nations joined Turkey in a UN initiative calling for a halt to the flow of ammunition and weapons that “feed Israel’s war machine.”
In May last year, Turkey warned it would halt all trade with Israel unless humanitarian supplies entered Gaza uninterrupted. The free trade agreement between Turkey and Israel, signed in 1997, covers steel, oil, and plastic.
The Turkish Statistical Institute reported that bilateral trade reached nearly $6.8 billion in 2023. Turkish exports accounted for over 75% of this trade
