The Turkish Trade Ministry on Thursday firmly rejected allegations of ongoing trade with Israel, dismissing them as baseless and deliberately misleading.
In an official statement, the ministry said the claims were propagated by an individual wanted on terrorism charges who has fled abroad and is allegedly acting as a foreign intelligence asset with a hostile agenda against Türkiye. The ministry accused the individual of spreading disinformation and distortion via social media in an attempt to fabricate the perception that trade with Israel continues.
“These falsehoods are aimed at manipulating public opinion and undermining Türkiye’s principled stance,” the statement read.
For more than 1.5 years, Türkiye, led by President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, has been the leading country in the world to wage the most valiant struggle in the fields of diplomacy, trade, law, health and humanitarian aid against Israel's genocide in Gaza, and aggression in the West Bank, Lebanon and Syria, it said, adding: "This fact is appreciated by the Palestinians, the Palestinian government, the entire Islamic world, and other countries and peoples with a conscience."
It said Türkiye has been fighting against such lies and slanders on this issue for 1.5 years, and it will continue to do so even more vigorously. The country has presented the facts with figures, data and information hundreds of times, it noted.
The ministry recalled that Türkiye has reduced its trade with Israel by around 30% in the seven-month period from Oct. 7, 2023 to May 2, 2024, at the first phase while efforts to establish a ceasefire in the region and improve the situation continued.
With the decision of the government, Türkiye halted exports to Israel on April 9, 2024, in 1,019 products under 54 categories; three weeks later on May 2, 2024, exports, imports and transit trade from Türkiye to Israel were completely ceased in all product groups, it reminded.
"Trade transactions with Israel cannot be carried out at customs and in our free zones. Trade with Israel has been zero since May 2, 2024," the ministry stated.
The export figure from Türkiye to Israel in 2024 of $2.8 billion given in the news story is also completely wrong, it noted.
"Before our decision to stop trade on May 2, 2024, exports in the first four months of 2024 were $1.52 billion, and this includes exports to Palestine," it added.
The ministry also said in response to the West Bank-Ramallah-based Palestinian government’s desire to trade with Türkiye for Palestine’s urgent needs, a unique controlled trade mechanism was developed in accordance with the "Türkiye-Palestine State Protocol” signed on June 7, 2024.
Exports from Türkiye to Palestine, which are made only in accordance with the limited permit application where the importer is Palestinian, the destination is Palestinian, and each application is tightly controlled by the Turkish Ministry of Trade, are $797 million in total in 2024, the statement read.
On the other hand, this small amount of trade with the Palestinian territories can only be done through two Israeli ports since Palestine does not have a port or customs, it reminded.
It added: "As can be seen, the distorted news is entirely a slander aimed at creating the perception that 'Türkiye is still exporting to Israel.'"
It is clear that it aims to "discredit our government’s policies and measures against Israel’s genocides and to serve Israel’s interests outright."
According to 2022 data, Türkiye has renounced its $9.5 billion foreign trade with Israel, $7 billion of which is export, to support the Palestinian cause and innocent Palestinians, it noted.
