ISTANBUL: Türkiye has closed its ports and airspace to Israeli ships and planes, its overseas minister stated on Friday (Aug 29), escalating a diplomatic rift over Israel’s struggle towards Hamas in Gaza.
Overseas Minister Hakan Fidan informed lawmakers that Ankara wouldn’t enable Israeli or Turkish ships carrying weapons to dock, nor would it not allow Israeli plane to enter Turkish skies.
“We have now closed our ports to Israeli ships. We don’t enable Turkish ships to go to Israeli ports. We don’t enable container ships carrying weapons and ammunition to Israel to enter our ports, nor can we enable their plane to enter our airspace,” Fidan stated in a televised deal with.
A Turkish diplomatic supply clarified that the ban utilized to “all plane carrying weapons (to Israel) and to Israel’s official flights”.
TRADE CUT OFF
Ties between Ankara and Tel Aviv, already strained, collapsed additional after Israel’s offensive in Gaza. Türkiye suspended all commerce with Israel in Might final yr, accusing it of committing “genocide” within the Palestinian enclave, a cost Israel rejects.
On Monday, Israel’s largest delivery agency, ZIM, stated it had been knowledgeable that new Turkish laws barred vessels owned or operated by Israeli-linked entities from berthing in Turkish ports. The ban additionally prolonged to ships carrying army cargo destined for Israel, it stated.
The corporate warned in a submitting to the New York Inventory Change that the regulation would “negatively influence” its monetary outcomes.
