Turkey said it will restrict exports of various important materials including cement, steel, fuel and aluminium to Israel until there is a ceasefire in Gaza.
The Turkish Trade Ministry announced on Tuesday that it had put curbs on the exports of 54 products to Israel as Ankara’s first significant move against Israel since the invasion of Gaza started.
“This decision will remain in place until Israel, under its obligations emanating from international law, urgently declares a ceasefire in Gaza and allows the unhindered flow of sufficient humanitarian aid into the Gaza Strip,” the Trade Ministry said in a statement.
The restricted products include cement, fuel, steel, aluminium, cobalt, sulphur and other important materials that could be used in the construction and defence industries.
Israel’s Foreign Minister Israel Katz responded to the Turkish decision on X on Tuesday by saying that Ankara has “unilaterally violated” trade agreements with its decision.
He warned that Israel will respond with its own trade restrictions on products from Turkey.
President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s government has been under huge pressure because of its continuing trade relations with Israel despite of the government’s backing for the Palestinians in the war in Gaza.
Trade relations involve family members and associates of President Erdogan and his ruling alliance, sparking accusations that the Turkish government has been helping Israel in its war.
Fatih Erbakan, President of New Welfare Party, YRP, led a campaign in the recent Turkish local elections focusing on Turkish government’s trade with Israel, aimed at attracting conservative and Islamist votes.
Erbakan’s YRP was one of the major factors in President Erdogan’s defeat in local elections on March 31, in which almost all major cities and towns were won by opposition parties.
“We call on the authorities once again: end this sin immediately!” Erbakan wrote on X on April 4 when he posted documents about a Turkish state company’s exports of the highly useful chemical substance boron to Israel.
Investigative journalist Metin Cihan, who lives in exile in Germany was the first to reveal continuing trade relations between Israel and Turkey that involve Erdogan’s family and associates.
“When I researched these companies more deeply to announce them, I realised that names such as [Erdogan’s son] Burak Erdogan and [former Prime Minister Binali Yildirim’s son] Erkam Yildirim and some [ruling] AK Party executives continued to trade with Israel. I tried to make this hypocrisy known to everyone,” Cihan wrote on X.
According to data from TurkStat, from October when the war started, until February, Turkey’s exports to Israel amounted to $1.8 billion.
Important products for Israel such as cement, steel and aluminium play an significant part in Israel’s trade with Turkey.
According to the Union of Turkish Steel Exporters, in 2022, Turkish producers satisfied 65 per cent of Israel’s total demand for steel.
Turkey has accused Israel of genocide against the Palestinians since the war started when Hamas attacked Israel on October 7. In its military response, Israeli have strikes killed thousands of Palestinians in Gaza. While many Western countries designate Hamas a terrorist organisation, President Erdogan has defined it as a group of “freedom fighters”.
According to the Hamas-controlled Health Ministry in Gaza on Tuesday, more than 33,000 Palestinians including children have been killed in Israeli attacks since October 7. The death toll on the Israeli side stands at 1,400.
Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan announced on Monday that Israel had refused Turkey’s request to deliver help to people in Gaza with an air operation.
