Islamist Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan confirmed reports on Friday that Ankara will ban all imports from and exports to Israel in support of the jihadist terror group Hamas.
“There was a trade volume of $9.5 billion between us,” Erdogan told reporters on Friday. “Ignoring this trade volume, we closed the door.”
Erdogan once again accused Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of unfairly targeting Palestinian civilians in the ongoing Israeli self-defense operation against Hamas, calling him “relentless” in comments on Friday. The Turkish president objects to the operation, intended to neutralize the group’s ability to invade and ravage Israel, on the grounds that the Israelis are allegedly targeting Palestinian civilians subjugated by Hamas. Netanyahu’s government approved the operation in response to the slaughter of an estimated 1,200 people, abduction of 2,500, and widespread torture, gang rape, and desecration of the corpses of Israelis during Hamas’s siege of Israel on October 7.
Erdogan was among the first world leaders to defend Hamas following the October 7 atrocities, repeatedly insisting that the group is “not a terrorist organization” and comparing Netanyahu to Adolf Hitler.
Demonstrators hold a Palestinian national flag and a sign that shows a portrait of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu converting to Nazi Germany’s leader Adolf Hitler during a rally called “Gaza: stop massacres, stop impunity” in support of Palestinians and to demand for an immediate ceasefire (NICOLAS MAETERLINCK/Belga/AFP via Getty Images).
In his remarks on Friday, Erdogan condemned both Israel and “all Western countries” for opposing Hamas and allegedly “sparing no efforts to condemn the poverty-stricken Palestinians to death.”
Erdogan’s announcement followed the declaration by the Turkish Trade Ministry on Thursday that Ankara would suspend all import and export ties to Israel.
“Since the first day, our country has rushed to the aid of the people of Gaza, delivered tens of thousands of tons of humanitarian aid to the region by ships and planes, especially food, health and medical aid materials,” the Trade Ministry claimed, “evacuated thousands of patients and stood by our Palestinian brothers and sisters in these difficult days.”
According to the Trade Ministry, Turkey will not resume trade with Israel until it allows what Turkey considers “uninterrupted and sufficient flow of humanitarian aid to Gaza.”
The two countries are among each other’s top trade partners; of the $9.5 billion in trade volume between them, an estimated $5 billion was represented by Turkish exports to Israel before the two countries began limiting their commercial interactions.
Turkish officials had initially restricted trade with Israel on April 9, identifying 54 products, including construction materials, chemical fertilizers, and steel that Turkish companies could no longer legally sell to Israeli companies. Israel responded then by urging private actors to limit their business transactions with Turkey. Foreign Minister Israel Katz warned at the time that Jerusalem would “respond accordingly and prepare an extended list of additional products that Israel will prevent Turkey from exporting.”
On Thursday, the Israeli government initially stated that it was still trying to clarify the terms of the Turkish Trade Ministry’s announced embargo. Katz issued a separate statement, however, condemning Erdogan personally for having “crossed a line” with the new measure.
“This is how a dictator behaves, trampling on the interests of the Turkish people, businessmen, and ignoring international trade agreements,” Katz denounced. “I have instructed the Foreign Ministry Director-General to hold immediate discussions with all relevant parties to find alternative solutions for trade with Turkey.”
“Israel has a strong economy and will emerge stronger from this. We win, and they lose,” he affirmed.
Erdogan’s Turkey has made some of the most ostentatious moves in support of Hamas in the international community. The president plainly declared on October 25, less than a month before the unprecedented siege of Israel, “Hamas is not a terrorist organization, it is a group of mujahideen defending their lands.”
Palestinian militants representing the armed wings of Hamas, Islamic Jihad and the Popular Resistance Committees as well as the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades and Abu Rish Brigades, gather in the southern Gaza Strip border town of Rafah (SAID KHATIB/AFP via Getty Images).
Erdogan also led a crowd the Turkish government claimed totaled to 1.5 million people in Istanbul that month in an event he branded the “Great Palestine Rally,” where he repeated the claim that Hamas was “not a terrorist organization” and declared that Israel was a “war criminal” state.
More recently, in late April, Erdogan welcomed the “political” head of Hamas, Ismail Haniyeh, to Istanbul to discuss cooperation:
President @RTErdogan received Head of Hamas Political Bureau Ismail Haniyeh at Dolmabahçe Presidential Office in Istanbul. pic.twitter.com/L1haaOyRpX
— Presidency of the Republic of Türkiye (@trpresidency) April 20, 2024
In his speech announcing to his Islamist Justice and Development Party (AKP) Haniyeh’s April visit, Erdogan declared he would “be the voice of the oppressed Palestinian people … as long as God grants [him] life.”
“When no one else would speak, we stood up and said: ‘Hamas is not a terrorist organization, but a resistance group,’” Erdogan boasted.
The Turkish government is also attempting to take on a leadership role in bringing cases against Israel to international courts, accusing the government of targeting civilians in its operations against Hamas. On Wednesday, Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan announced that Turkey would seek to join an ongoing case at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) against Israel initiated by South Africa, accusing Israel of “genocide.” Neither South Africa nor Turkey have similarly condemned Hamas for its genocidal actions on October 7 or its explicitly genocidal intent of destroying the state of Israel.
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