Turkey announces suspension of trade activities with Israel

Ankara, May 3 Turkey halted all trade activities with Israel due to the latter's "non-stop violence" against Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, the Turkish Trade Ministry said.

The move follows Turkey's imposition of restrictions on an array of exports to Israel since last month, which Ankara said on Thursday would remain in effect until a ceasefire in Gaza is achieved.

In a statement, the Ministry recalled that Ankara previously restricted the export of 54 product groups to Israel in April because the "massacre, humanitarian catastrophe, and physical destruction caused by Israel continued," and the Israeli government "ignored" international ceasefire efforts and blocked humanitarian aid, Xinhua news agency reported.

"It is observed that the Israeli government continues its aggressive behaviour and the humanitarian tragedy in Palestine worsens," the Ministry said.

"In this respect, the second phase of the measures taken at the state level has been initiated and export and import transactions with Israel have been suspended for all products," said the statement.

Turkey will strictly and decisively implement these new measures until the Israeli government allows the uninterrupted and sufficient flow of humanitarian aid to Gaza, it added.

On the other hand, the Turkish Trade Ministry is coordinating with Palestinian authorities to ensure that Palestinian people "who are forced to live under occupation" are not affected by these restrictions, the Ministry noted.

According to the Turkish Statistical Institute, trade between the two countries amounted to $6.8 billion in 2023, with Turkish exports accounting for 76 per cent of the total.

--IANS

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