Turkiye cuts economic and trade ties, closes air spaces to Israel

ISTANBUL: In a major development, Turkiye on Friday announced its decision to severe all commercial and economic ties with Israel while also closing its ports to Israeli ships and airspace to planes, as Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan said Israel’s military actions in the Gaza Strip will set “the entire region [Middle East] ablaze”.

“Atrocities committed in Gaza have been recorded as one of the darkest chapters in human history,” Fidan said and added that Palestinians’ resistance would shift the “course of history, become a symbol for the oppressed”.

He also cited the actions taken by Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu-led far-right government against the territorial integrity of Syria as the reason.

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In his speech in the parliament, Fidan said Israel was deliberately making Gaza uninhabitable to force its people to leave — a reference to the plans to relocate the Palestinians from Gaza as part of the ongoing genocide.

At the same time, Fidan said Israel opposed the emergence of a “new and strong Syria”, but promised that Turkiye would not allow such a policy to continue.

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IT’S TURKIYE ONLY

“We have closed our ports to Israeli ships. We do not allow Turkish ships to go to Israeli ports…. We do not allow container ships carrying weapons and ammunition to Israel to enter our ports, nor do we allow their aircraft to enter our airspace,” Fidan told lawmakers in a televised address.

Asked for clarification about the minister’s remarks, a Turkish diplomatic source said its airspace was “closed to all aircraft carrying weapons (to Israel) and to Israel’s official flights”.

On Monday ZIM, Israel’s biggest shipping firm, said it had been informed that under new regulations passed by Ankara on August 22, “vessels that are either owned, managed or operated by an entity related to Israel will not be permitted to berth in Turkish ports”.

The information was made public in a filing to the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in which ZIM warned the new regulation was expected to “negatively impact on the company’s financial and operational results”.

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The ban also extended to other ships carrying military cargo destined for Israel, it said.

“Separately.. vessels that are carrying military cargo destined to Israel will not be permitted to berth in Turkish ports; in addition, Turkish-flagged vessels will be prohibited from berthing in Israeli ports.”

Fidan’s remarks were the first public acknowledgement of the ban.

“No other country has cut off trade with Israel,” he told Turkish lawmakers at an emergency session on the Gaza crisis.

GREATER ISRAEL

The development comes as the Netanyahu government is openly talking about carve out a “Greater Israel“, which comprises not only the occupied Palestinians territories but also Lebanon and Syria but also parts of Egypt and Saudi Arabia.

It is a clear rejection of the push led by France and Saudi Arabia for a two-state solution.

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At the same time, Israel is pressing ahead with establishing illegal settlements in the occupied Palestinian territories.

Read more: Israel approves West Bank settlement project despite opposition