Turkey has suspended all trade with Israel due to its Gaza offensive, citing the “worsening humanitarian tragedy” in the strip.
The Turkish Commerce Ministry said the measures will remain in place until Israel allows an “uninterrupted and sufficient flow” of aid to Gaza.
Trade between the two countries was worth almost $7 billion ($5.6 billion) last year.
Israel’s Foreign Minister accused Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan of acting like a “dictator”.
Israel Katz said on X that Erdogan was “disregarding the interests of the Turkish people and businesspeople and ignoring international trade agreements.”
He added that he instructed Itamaraty to find trade alternatives with Turkey, focusing on local production and imports from other countries.
In a statement, Turkey said the trade suspension covers “all products”.
“Turkey will strictly and decisively implement these new measures until the Israeli government allows an uninterrupted and sufficient flow of humanitarian aid to Gaza.”
In 1949, Turkey was the first Muslim-majority country to recognize Israel. But relations have worsened in recent decades.
But in 2010, Turkey severed diplomatic relations with Israel after 10 Turkish pro-Palestinian activists were killed in clashes with Israeli commandos who boarded a Turkish-owned ship trying to break Israel’s maritime blockade of the Gaza Strip.
Relations were restored in 2016, but both countries expelled each other’s top diplomats two years later in a dispute over Israel’s killing of Palestinians amid protests on the Gaza-Israel border.
Erdogan has become increasingly strident in his criticism of Israel since the Hamas attack on Israel on October 7 last year.
In January, he said the response launched by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was “no less than what Hitler did.”
Netanyahu responded: “Erdogan, who commits genocide against the Kurds, who holds a world record for arresting journalists who oppose his government, is the last person who can preach morality to us.”
Israel has come under increasing criticism for conditions in the Gaza Strip. A UN-backed assessment said last month that 1.1 million people faced catastrophic famine and that famine was imminent in northern Gaza in May.
On Thursday, the White House said a pier built by the U.S. military to facilitate the flow of aid into the territory would open within days.
Israel denies limiting aid deliveries and blames the UN for failing to distribute it to those in need inside Gaza.
Israel launched a military campaign in Gaza to destroy Hamas in response to the group’s attack on southern Israel on October 7, during which around 1,200 people were killed and another 253 were taken hostage.
More than 34,500 people have been killed in Gaza since then, according to the territory’s Hamas-run Ministry of Health.
