Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan said that his country was forced to end trade relations with Israel and stopped the trade turnover, the volume of which reached 9.5 billion .USD.
„The events that have unfolded between Israel and Palestine are unacceptable. Israel killed 40,000-45,000 Palestinians. As Muslims, it was impossible for us to simply observe. We were forced to take action and we took the necessary step. We had a trade turnover of USD 9.5 billion, now we have stopped it,” he told reporters in Istanbul. The speech was broadcast on Turkey's ruling Justice and Development Party's X (formerly Twitter) account.
The Turkish leader noted that he had previously met with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in the United States even before the outbreak of the current crisis. “I met him then for a reason, but to show that Turkey and Israel can take some steps together. But Netanyahu proved to be ruthless and showed that ruthlessness to children, women and the elderly [in Gaza]. The whole West, and especially the United States, is working in the interest of Israel,”, he said.
On April 9, the Turkish Ministry of Commerce introduced restrictions on trade with Israel for 54 types of goods. On the evening of May 2, the ministry announced a complete suspension of export and import transactions with Israel. According to Turkish Trade Minister Omer Bolat, Ankara will comply with the decision on trade sanctions against Israel until it ceases fire in the Gaza Strip and ensures the unimpeded delivery of humanitarian aid to the region.