ISTANBUL: Türkiye has closed its ports and airspace to Israeli ships and planes, its international minister stated on Friday (Aug 29), escalating a diplomatic rift over Israel’s warfare in opposition to Hamas in Gaza.
International Minister Hakan Fidan instructed lawmakers that Ankara wouldn’t permit Israeli or Turkish ships carrying weapons to dock, nor wouldn’t it allow Israeli plane to enter Turkish skies.
“We’ve closed our ports to Israeli ships. We don’t permit Turkish ships to go to Israeli ports. We don’t permit container ships carrying weapons and ammunition to Israel to enter our ports, nor can we permit their plane to enter our airspace,” Fidan stated in a televised tackle.
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 Could final 12 months, accusing it of committing “genocide” within the Palestinian enclave, a cost Israel rejects.
On Monday, Israel’s greatest transport agency, ZIM, stated it had been knowledgeable that new Turkish rules barred vessels owned or operated by Israeli-linked entities from berthing in Turkish ports. The ban additionally prolonged to ships carrying navy cargo destined for Israel, it stated.
The corporate warned in a submitting to the New York Inventory Trade that the regulation would “negatively impression” its monetary outcomes.
