Turkey has blocked trade with Israel, here’s what the effects will be
Turkey will completely suspend trade to and from Israel in retaliation for the “humanitarian tragedy” in Palestine. Numbers and declarations
Turkey has confirmed that it will completely suspend trade with Israel until the country allows an adequate and uninterrupted flow of humanitarian aid into the Gaza Strip. This is a harsher and broader retaliation than that announced a month ago , when the Turkish government made it known that it would limit the exports of some products (such as jet fuel, cement and steel) to Israeli territory.
In a statement, the Turkish Ministry of Commerce explained that the expansion of the restrictions to cover all bilateral trade was decided following the "worsening of the humanitarian tragedy in Palestine".
TENSIONS BETWEEN ERDOGAN AND NETANYAHU
Before the war in Gaza against Hamas began, there were discussions between Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu about strengthening trade and energy relations. The relationship between the two countries, however, was already complicated then and in recent months it has become even more so.
The Turkish population is predominantly Muslim and there are anti-Semitic and anti-Zionist sentiments in society and politics. Erdogan himself – as the journalist Marta Ottaviani explained to Startmag – carries forward these requests, although he has been contested by the most radical Islamists for his line considered too soft.
Unlike the European Union and the United States, Turkey does not consider Hamas a terrorist organization. Erdogan also defined the group's militiamen as "freedom fighters". On April 20, the president met in Istanbul with the political leaders of Hamas and asked for the immediate provision of aid to the inhabitants of Gaza.
HOW MUCH IS TRADE BETWEEN Türkiye AND ISRAEL WORTH
In 2023, trade between Turkey and Israel was worth $6.8 billion; 76 percent of the sum is made up of Turkish exports. Last year, Israeli imports of Turkish products – mainly steel, minerals, machinery, fuel and food – amounted to $4.6 billion.
ISRAEL'S RESPONSE
Israel's Foreign Minister, Israel Katz, called Turkey's decision "the behavior of a dictator who tramples on the interests of the Turkish people and business community, ignoring international trade agreements." He added that the Israeli government is working to replace goods imported from Turkey by increasing local production and finding alternative suppliers.
In a statement, the Association of Israeli Manufacturers (an industry representative body) called on the government to impose 100 percent tariffs on all imports from Turkey for the next three years.
This is a machine translation from Italian language of a post published on Start Magazine at the URL https://www.startmag.it/economia/turchia-sospensione-commercio-israele/ on Fri, 03 May 2024 13:39:41 +0000.