The Israeli government highlights the strength of the Israeli economy and guarantees not to give in to “Erdogan’s threats and blackmail.” The two countries cut diplomatic relations in October 2023.
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This Thursday, the Israeli Government ordered the reduction of all of Turkey’s economic ties with Gaza and the Palestinian Authority (PA) in retaliation for the Turkish president’s decision to “close the doors” to trade with Israel.
Hamas says Netanyahu’s comments are intended to torpedo the possibility of a truce: “I am not interested in an agreement”
“[Recep Tayyip] Erdogan, the dictator who dreams of being sultan, works for Hamas“It violates agreements and wants to harm Israel, but in reality it harms the Palestinians it seeks to help,” the Israeli Government said in a statement.
In addition to taking steps to sever economic and trade relations with the Palestinian territories, Israel will ask international economic forums to consider the possibility of apply sanctions to Türkiye for violating trade agreements.
The country will also seek to find immediate alternatives to Turkish products and offer assistance to affected Israeli sectors.
No we will surrender to Erdogan’s blackmail and threats. The economy Israeli and more strong than a dictator like Erdogan, who violates agreements and works in the service of Hamas. “I ordered the reduction of all economic ties between Erdogan and the Palestinian Authority and between Gaza,” Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz insisted in the note.
Erdogan confirmed this Thursday that Turkey “closed the door” to trade with Israel due to the “cruelty” of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in the Gaza war, a decision announced Thursday night by the Turkish Ministry of Commerce.
“We have taken certain steps to force Israel to accept a ceasefire and increase the volume of humanitarian aid coming in.” [em Gaza]“, the president told the businessmen in Istanbul.
“We will closely monitor the consequences of the measures we take in cooperation. […] with our business communities,” added the Turkish president.
Erdogan recalled that a few weeks before the Hamas attacks of October 7, which followed Israel’s offensive in Gaza, he had met in the United States with Netanyahu “to demonstrate that Turkey and Israel could take several steps” in their bilateral relationship. , fully restored in 2022 after years of tensions.
“Unfortunately, Netanyahu reacted cruelly against children, women and the elderly. They can not do anything. The entire West works with Israel. Faced with this we could not take it anymore and we take action“said Erdogan.
On April 9, Turkey banned the export of a wide range of products to Israel, including steel, concrete and other materials that made up the bulk of bilateral trade, as a pressure measure to speed up the delivery of humanitarian aid to Gaza.
In 2022, Israel was Turkey’s tenth customer, importing almost $7 billion (€6.5 billion) in Turkish products, mainly in the metals, steel, cement, automobile and electronics sectors, and exporting around of 2.4 billion dollars (2.23 billion euros) in products.
Israel and Türkiye cut diplomatic relations last October and withdrew their ambassadors, but trade continued uninterrupted and even increased, according to the Turkish Exporters Association (TIM).
According to TIM data, cited by the newspaper BirgunThe volume of Turkish exports to Israel increased from 317 million dollars (295 million euros) in January to 423 million dollars (393 million euros) in March, a total of 1,100 million dollars (1,022 million euros) in the first quarter.
Source: Observadora
