Source: AFP
President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Friday that Turkey’s move to freeze trade with Israel is designed to force the country into a ceasefire in Gaza.
The decision, announced on Thursday, is the latest sign of deteriorating relations between the two countries.
“We have taken some measures to force Israel to agree to a ceasefire and increase the amount of humanitarian aid coming in,” Erdogan told a group of businessmen in Istanbul.
“We will monitor the consequences of this step we have taken in coordination and consultation with our business community.”
Already in April Turkey, one of the few Muslim-majority nations to recognize Israel, announced it was restricting exports to Israel, covering 54 products ranging from iron and steel to jet fuel.
“We are not running behind hostility or conflict in our region,” Erdogan said on Friday. “We do not want to see conflict, blood or tears in our geography.
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“We now know we did the right thing.”
The Gaza Strip is suffering a humanitarian crisis caused by Israel’s war against Hamas that has been raging since October 7, with the United Nations and aid agencies warning of imminent famine.
The war began with Hamas’ unprecedented attack on Israel on October 7 that resulted in the deaths of 1,170 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally with Israeli official figures.
Israel estimates that 129 prisoners taken by militants during their offensive remain in Gaza. The military says 34 of them are dead.
Israel’s retaliatory offensive against Hamas has killed more than 34,600 people in Gaza, mostly women and children, according to the Hamas-run territory’s health ministry.
“We closed that door”
An outspoken supporter of the Palestinian cause, Erdogan has become one of the harshest critics in the Muslim world of Israel’s assault on Gaza.
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He accused the government of “state terrorism,” calling Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu the “butcher of Gaza.”
However, Turkey’s trade action against Israel came after domestic criticism of Erdogan’s government for failing to act sooner.
His party suffered a historic defeat in local elections on March 31, losing control of several cities, especially to the Islam-based Yeniden Refah (New Providence) Party, which had called for tougher measures against Israel.
Turkey-Israel trade volume reached $9.5 billion, Erdogan told reporters after Friday prayers in Istanbul. “We closed that door.”
Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz on Thursday accused Erdogan of violating agreements between the two countries after Ankara announced the trade freeze.
But Erdogan said: “We have one goal here, and that is to force the Netanyahu government, which has spiraled out of control with the unconditional military and diplomatic support of the West, into a ceasefire.”
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“If a ceasefire is declared and sufficient humanitarian aid is allowed to enter Gaza, the goal will be achieved.”
Source: AFP