ISRAEL TO ABOLISH FREE TRADE DEAL WITH TURKEY IN RETALIATORY MOVE

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan (L) welcoming the leader of the Palestinian terror group Hamas, Ismail Haniyeh, (R) during their meeting at the Presidential Complex in Ankara, July 26, 2023. (Mustafa KAMACI / Turkish Presidency Press Office / AFP)

Fri 16 May 2024:

Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich says Israel will abolish its free trade agreement with Turkey and also impose a 100 percent tariff on other imports in retaliation for Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan’s decision to halt exports to Israel.

The plan, he said, would be submitted to the cabinet for approval.

Earlier this month, Turkey said it was stopping exports to Israel during the duration of Israel’s war on Gaza citing a “worsening humanitarian tragedy” in the Palestinian territory.

“His [Erdogan’s] announcement of the stoppage of imports to Israel constitutes a declaration of an economic boycott and a serious violation of international trade agreements to which Turkey has committed,” Smotrich said in a statement.

He noted Israel’s actions would only last as long as Erdogan remained in power. “If, at the end of Erdogan’s term, the citizens of Turkey elect a leader who is sane and not a hater of Israel, it would be possible to return the trade route with Turkey.”

Rockier relations

Relations have been rockier since Erdogan’s ascendance in the early 2000s, but even at their lowest points — such as after the Mavi Marmara incident in 2010, in which Israel raided a Turkish ship that was attempting to breach Israel’s blockade of Gaza — trade remained high.

On October 6, the day before Hamas stormed southern Israel, killing some 1,200 people and kidnapping 252 to the Gaza Strip, diplomatic relations between Israel and Turkey were at their highest point in years. Ambassadors had once again been exchanged between the two countries after the rocky period following the Mavi Marmara incident. Erdogan had spoken positively about his calls with President Isaac Herzog and was even planning a trip to Israel.

Yet soon after the October 7, Erdogan pivoted towards Hamas, calling the group not terrorists but “liberators” and “Mujahideen,” an Islamic term for a holy warrior. Some analysts interpreted his stance as an effort to appeal to conservative voters who have gravitated towards the Islamist New Welfare party, which has loudly accused Erdogan of being too soft in its support of Gaza and the Palestinians.

In March, Erdogan’s Justice and Development Party, known locally as AKP, suffered its largest loss in two decades, bleeding voters on the right. It was soon after that Erdogan ramped up his pressure on Israel and announced the trade embargo.

After Israeli officials suggested last week that Turkey may already be softening its stance, Turkey denied that it was easing the embargo but did clarify that there would be a three-month period during which pre-existing contracts could be satisfied.

But Erdogan further strained ties this weekend, when during a meeting with the Greek prime minister he doubled down on his stance that Hamas was not a terror group and declared that over 1,000 Hamas fighters were being treated in Turkish hospitals. He did not explain when or how they arrived in Turkey from Gaza. On Wednesday, he went even further, claiming that if Israel defeats Hamas in the Gaza Strip, it will then “set its sights” on Turkey.

In his speech, Erdogan also said that Hamas is not a “terror organisation” but a “resistance movement” defending Palestinians and their land.

“If you call Hamas a ‘terrorist organisation,’ this would sadden us,” Erdogan said at the conference after PM Mitsotakis had referred to Hamas as such.

“We don’t deem Hamas a terrorist organisation. More than 1,000 members of Hamas are under treatment in hospitals across our country.”

SOURCE: INDEPENDENT PRESS AND NEWS AGENCIES

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