Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan said his country has completely severed economic and trade ties with Israel and has closed its airspace to its aircraft, in protest over the war in Gaza.
Speaking at an extraordinary session of the Turkish parliament on Gaza on Friday, Fidan said Israel has been “committing genocide in Gaza for the past two years, ignoring basic humanitarian values right before the world’s eyes”.
Turkiye cut off direct trade ties with Israel in May last year, demanding a permanent ceasefire and the immediate entry of humanitarian aid to Gaza. In 2023, the two countries carried out $7bn in trade.
Ankara has not minced its words about Israel’s war on Gaza, with President Recep Tayyip Erdogan calling it a genocide – like many other world leaders and leading human rights organistions – and likening Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to the leader of Nazi Germany, Adolf Hitler.
“We have completely cut off our trade with Israel. We do not allow Turkish ships to go to Israeli ports. We do not allow their planes to enter our airspace,” Fidan said.
The Turkish foreign minister’s condemnation comes amid years of increasingly tense relations between the two countries, said Al Jazeera’s Resul Serdar.
“It’s not only about the humanitarian crisis that’s unfolding in Gaza; Turkiye gradually is perceiving Israel as a national security threat,” Serdar explained, noting that Israel’s expansionism and attacks across the wider Middle East have been cause for concern.
In Syria particularly, Ankara has accused Israel of wilfully undermining the country’s recovery efforts after the devastation of a 14-year civil war and the removal of longtime leader Bashar al-Assad last December by a lightning rebel offensive.
“Diplomats in Ankara are seeing that if Israel is not stopped, eventually there might be a direct military confrontation between these two countries,” he said.
Serdar added that the Turkish foreign minister’s comments also show that Turkiye is looking to the Global South and other powers to take action, amid the United States’ and European Union’s largely unwavering support for Israel.
Turkish media reported last week that a ban on maritime traffic linked to Israel had been imposed, although there was no official statement. According to reports, Israeli vessels were banned from docking in Turkiye, and Turkish-flagged ships were not allowed to enter Israeli ports.
‘Like pariahs’
Meanwhile, Turkiye’s latest move is making “more and more Israelis feel the disadvantages of this kind of war that has no deadline”, said Akiva Eldar, an Israeli political analyst.
“Turkiye is not just another country that is deciding to cut its relationship with Israel. Turkiye has been an ally of Israel for many years, a very important market to Israeli goods,” Eldar told Al Jazeera, speaking from Kiryat Shmona, adding that it was also a favourite summer destination for many Israelis.
“We feel more and more … Israelis are feeling isolated and [like] pariahs. More and more countries and companies have decided to stop their business with Israel.”
Last November, Turkish authorities denied permission for Israeli President Isaac Herzog’s plane to enter Turkiye’s airspace for a trip to an international summit in Azerbaijan.
“As Turkiye, we have to take a stance on certain issues,” Erdogan later said when asked about the incident.
Israel and Turkiye’s relationship had soured as far back as 2010, following Israel’s deadly attack on a Gaza-bound aid flotilla, which killed 10 Turkish citizens.
More recently, a Turkish-American activist, Aysenur Ezgi Eygi, was killed by Israeli forces during a protest in the occupied West Bank in September 2024.
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