Türkiye bars Israeli ships, flights from its ports and airspace
ISTANBUL: Türkiye has closed its ports and airspace to Israeli ships and planes, its foreign minister said on Friday (Aug 29), escalating a diplomatic rift over Israel’s war against Hamas in Gaza.
Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan told lawmakers that Ankara would not allow Israeli or Turkish ships carrying weapons to dock, nor would it permit Israeli aircraft to enter Turkish skies.
“We have closed our ports to Israeli ships. We do not allow Turkish ships to go to Israeli ports. We do not allow container ships carrying weapons and ammunition to Israel to enter our ports, nor do we allow their aircraft to enter our airspace,” Fidan said in a televised address.
A Turkish diplomatic source clarified that the ban applied to “all aircraft carrying weapons (to Israel) and to Israel's official flights”.
TRADE CUT OFF
Ties between Ankara and Tel Aviv, already strained, collapsed further after Israel’s offensive in Gaza. Türkiye suspended all trade with Israel in May last year, accusing it of committing “genocide” in the Palestinian enclave, a charge Israel rejects.
On Monday, Israel’s biggest shipping firm, ZIM, said it had been informed that new Turkish regulations barred vessels owned or operated by Israeli-linked entities from berthing in Turkish ports. The ban also extended to ships carrying military cargo destined for Israel, it said.
The company warned in a filing to the New York Stock Exchange that the regulation would “negatively impact” its financial results.
POLITICAL SIGNAL
Fidan’s remarks on Friday were the first official acknowledgement of the ban. “No other country has cut off trade with Israel,” he said at an emergency session on Gaza.
Turkish officials insist no trade is continuing, dismissing opposition claims that shipments, particularly oil from Azerbaijan, were still reaching Israel through Turkish territory.
Although Azerbaijan has long been a major oil supplier to Israel, recent customs data no longer lists Israel among its buyers, according to reports in Israel’s Haaretz newspaper.
The move marks a further escalation in Türkiye’s pressure campaign against Israel, after blocking overflight rights for Israeli leaders in recent months.
