Erdoğan says Türkiye cuts economic ties with Israel

ISTANBUL

President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has said Türkiye has severed and is further cutting off commercial relations with Israel amid the ongoing conflict in Gaza.

"The Israeli administration thinks it can silence us. Here, I would like to remind them of this truth again: Whatever you do is in vain, you cannot chain Tayyip Erdoğan's heart or his words," the president said during the fifth conference of the Inter-Parliamentary Jerusalem Platform in Istanbul on April 26.

Erdoğan recalled Ankara's recent decision to impose trade restrictions on Israel in response to the Gaza conflict, covering various products such as cement, steel and iron construction materials. This move followed domestic protests urging the government to sever trade ties with Israel sooner.

"We have cut off our relations with Israel, and we are cutting them off, especially in commercial terms," Erdoğan said.

Addressing allegations made by opposition parties regarding Türkiye's alleged sale of jet and jet fuel to Israel, Erdoğan denounced them as "immoral."

"Do you have a conscience?... It has been seen that this propaganda is empty. Even though they spread this slander, we continue on our way with the same determination," Erdoğan stated.

“We are not one of those... politicians who determine their attitude according to the conditions, according to the wind blowing. We started this journey wearing our shrouds.”

The president said no one has the right to cast a shadow on Türkiye's stance on the Palestinian cause "for the sake of coming to the fore."

Describing Israel as a "modern pharaoh" due to the humanitarian crisis in Gaza, Erdoğan criticized the Israeli government's actions, calling Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu the "butcher of Gaza" and equating him with Hitler.

"This black stain on his hands will not come off no matter what he does... Words are no longer sufficient to describe what has happened since Oct. 7 [last year]," Erdoğan remarked. "The Nazi mentality murdered 35,000 people in Gaza."

Erdoğan suggested Türkiye's stance against what he termed as genocide in Gaza, reiterating his refusal to recognize Hamas as a terror group.

Instead, he once again likened Hamas to the Kuva-yi Milliye, or the National Forces, a historic irregular militia during the Turkish War of Independence.

Previously, Erdoğan addressed Türkiye's trade ties with Israel during a joint press conference with his German counterpart, Frank-Walter Steinmeier, on April 24, dismissing allegations of ongoing intense trade with Israel by stating "that job is over."