Trade Minister Ömer Bolat strongly rejected claims about any trade activities with Israel, saying that Ankara suspended all trade in May and continues to impose this.
In a statement posted on X, Bolat said Türkiye had stopped all trade activities, including exports and imports to and from Israel until Tel Aviv agreed to a permanent cease-fire and allowed uninterrupted delivery of humanitarian aid into the Gaza Strip.
“Our customs system is fully closed to all trade activities with Israel,” Bolat said.
Meanwhile, Bolat noted that Ankara allows trade with the Palestinian Authority in occupied East Jerusalem, the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, in line with a mutual agreement, in cases where the Palestinian authorities confirm the products are Palestine-bound and exported by Palestinians.
Bolat noted that all products traded with the region belong to trade with Palestinians, documented by official data.
Around 25% of indirect or direct exports by Palestine – worth around $7.7 billion – are conducted with Türkiye, Bolat said, adding that Palestinian exporters apply to the Palestinian National Economy Ministry and complete the process in coordination with the Turkish trade ministry.
This mechanism aims to fulfill the needs of the Palestinian people and highlights Türkiye’s support to the Palestinians, Bolat said.
Besides suspending trade with Israel, Turkish officials have been calling on all countries to impose an arms embargo on Israel.
Flouting a U.N. Security Council resolution calling for an immediate cease-fire, Israel has continued a brutal offensive on Gaza following a cross-border attack by the Palestinian resistance group, Hamas, last October.
More than 42,400 people have since been killed, most of them women and children, and over 99,000 injured, according to local health authorities.
The Israeli onslaught has displaced almost the entire population of Gaza amid an ongoing blockade that has led to severe shortages of food, clean water and medicine.
Israel also faces a genocide case at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) for its actions in Gaza.
