
Turkey has severed economic ties with Israel, Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan said in the General Assembly during the Gaza-focused session of the Turkish Grand National Assembly on Friday.
According to state media, he said,"We have completely cut off our trade with Israel. We do not allow Turkish ships to go to Israeli ports, nor do we allow Israeli aircraft to enter our airspace."
Today, Fidan said Israel has been committing genocide in Gaza for two years, disregarding fundamental human values. He stressed that Turkey rejects any plan to deport Palestinians from Gaza, calling such proposals null and void.
He warned that Israel’s continued attacks in Palestine would ignite the entire region and described the atrocities in Gaza as among the darkest pages in human history. He said Palestinian resistance would alter the course of history, symbolise the oppressed, and challenge a decayed order.
Turkey and Israel have had a relationship marked by periods of cooperation and tension. The two countries established diplomatic ties in 1949 and developed strong military, trade, and intelligence cooperation during the 1990s.
In the 2000s, relations began to deteriorate over Israel’s policies toward Palestinians, although ties were partially restored in the mid-2010s.