As Turkish-Israeli trade booms, Erdogan pledges anti-Israeli policies

By Al Mayadeen English
Source: Agencies
22 Jan 2024 23:56
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Turkey wants to punish the Israeli occupation for its aggression on Gaza despite booming trade ties between the two parties.

Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan speaks during a joint statement with Hungary's Prime Minister Viktor Orban at the Carmelite Monastery in Budapest, Hungary, December 18, 2023 (AP)

Turkey has intensified its anti-Israeli stance by implementing direct economic measures. Israeli reports on Sunday highlighted President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's latest move, which involves the removal of "Israel" from Turkey's list of export destinations.

While Erdogan had previously focused on diplomatic channels to express his disapproval of the Israeli occupation, this latest development signals a shift toward tangible economic consequences.

The decision means that Turkey would no longer subsidize trade and will withdraw support for businesses involved in operations with "Israel". Turkish business owners are now allegedly warned that state subsidies will be withheld if they choose to engage in trade with "Israel".

The Israeli occupation placed Turkey in 13th place on its list of exports in 2023 despite the ongoing aggression on Gaza. Trade between the two is valued at $5.42 billion, JPost reported, saying the occupation accounted for some 2.1% of Turkey's total exports, though this represents a noticeable decrease from the $7 billion worth of exports in 2022.

Contrary to Erdogan's policies against the Israeli occupation, official data from the Turkish Transport Ministry reveals a surprising increase in maritime activity between the two parties.

Since the start of the Israeli aggression on Gaza on October 7, Turkey dispatched 701 ships to occupied Palestine, averaging about eight ships per day. Out of these, 480 followed the Turkey-Israeli-occupied Palestine route, while the remaining 221 made stops in Turkey en route to the ports of Haifa or "Ashdod".

Erdogan not yielding to US pressure

This comes after reports in December said that despite US pressure, Erdogan refused to cut Ankara's historical ties with Hamas in the wake of Operation al-Aqsa Flood.

Washington's "profound" alarm of Turkish-Hamas relations was relayed to Ankara by Brian Nelson, the US Department of the Treasury's Under Secretary for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence, who, in turn, admitted that no money transmission was detected between Turkey and Hamas.

However, Nelson said in the past, Turkey had facilitated Hamas' obtaining of financing and should now employ local legislation to impose restrictions on any such transfers.

In response to that, Erdogan's office released remarks reminding Washington that Ankara did not consider Hamas a "terrorist organization", saying, "First of all, Hamas is a reality of Palestine, it is a political party there and it entered the elections as a political party and won," adding, "We form our foreign policy in Ankara and design it only according to Turkey's interests and the expectations of our people."

Moreover, Erdogan stressed, "I am sure that our interlocutors appreciate Turkey's consistent and balanced foreign policy steps in such humanitarian crises and conflicts," reaffirming that "our expectation is that these perpetrators of genocide, these butchers of Gaza who were caught red-handed -- especially Netanyahu -- will receive the just punishment."

Erdogan: Hope for peace in Gaza lost, Hamas should be in solution

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan announced that the chance for peace in Gaza has waned and is considered lost after the end of the humanitarian pause as a result of "Israel's" approach, as reported by broadcaster NTV on Saturday.

On his return from attending the COP28 summit in the United Arab Emirates, Erdogan still expressed not losing hope for achieving peace in the struggle and noted that the Palestinian Resistance Hamas cannot be excluded from the potential solution.

On a separate note, he hoped his visit to Greece next week would launch a new chapter in Ankara-Athens relations, according to Turkish media on Saturday.

Additionally, he informed reporters that although there are differences of opinion on some matters between both nations, there is also a chance for improvement.