Alwaght- With the Israeli aggressive policies and war over the past two years have been stepped up with military campaigns against regional countries, we can claim that no country in West Asia can consider itself in a margin of safety. The Promised Land project and the expansionist policies of Israeli set off the alarm bells to all states in the region including Turkey.
Since the massive Israeli genocidal campaign started in October 8, 2023, the Turkish government and the very Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan have put themselves in the ranks of supporters of Palestine and, is issuing various statements, have talked about trade boycott over Tel Aviv. On media and diplomatically, Ankara has tried to establish the image of itself being engaged in a push to restrict, and even cut off, business ties to the Israeli occupation.
Various reports from international and domestic sources have, over this period, pointed to a significant gap between these claims and the facts on the ground. In practice, Turkish companies—with their government turning a blind eye—have figured out numerous ways to get around the sanctions. Exports of goods to Israel, ranging from raw materials and construction supplies to chemical products, have carried on without pause. Furthermore, oil from Azerbaijan, which is shipped out via Turkey, continues to make up a key energy lifeline for Israel.
Back in 2024, the debate flared up after Al Jazeera put out statistics, citing the UN's Comtrade database, which pointed to Turkey as one of Israel's largest exporters. In response, Turkey's Trade Ministry issued an official statement dismissing these claims as "highly inaccurate."
Total exports to Israel, the ministry says, added up to $1.522 billion in the period before sanctions kicked in (January-April 2024), a figure which takes in shipments sent to the Palestinian territories as well.
Now, however, a new situation has cropped up. Following the escalation of Israeli attacks in Syria—particularly those zeroing in on positions held by Hay'at Tahrir al-Sham and reports coming out about strikes on Turkish intelligence outposts—the Ankara government has suddenly come forward with announcements of "tightening boycott" and "shutting down the air route to Israel."
In connection with this, Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan has recently stated that Turkey will cut off all economic and trade ties with Israel. He also went on to say that Ankara will close off its airspace to Israeli aircraft.
London-based Lebanese newspaper Al-Akhbar reports that Turkish ships bound for the occupied territories often transited through third-party ports before continuing their journeys. However, following escalating protests in Turkey against trade with Israel, Turkish authorities issued a decision several days ago to ban vessels flying the Turkish flag from navigation to Israel. Foreign ships passing through Turkish ports will now be required to provide documentation proving they are not carrying military cargo for Israel and that their operators have no ties to Tel Aviv. The failure to comply will result in a ban on docking in Turkish ports.
This shift in stance raises critical questions: Is Turkey genuinely moving towards concrete actions against Israel, or is this yet another instance of short-term political tactics?
Prior to the developments of the Gaza war, trade exchanges between Turkey and the Israeli regime had reached as much as $9.5 billion annually. Following the war, reports from the Turkish Exporters Assembly (TİM) and Israel’s Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS) indicated that Turkey’s trade with Israel was being rerouted through third countries, effectively circumventing official trade restrictions.
One major rerouting channel is Greece, to which Turkish exports surged by 71 percent in May 2024 compared to the same month in 2023, reaching $375 million.
An analysis of data from ship-tracking systems reveals that between August 1 and 8, a total of 92 commercial maritime voyages took place between ports in the occupied territories and ports in Turkey and Egypt. Of these, 11 ships arrived from Turkey to ports Israeli ports, while another 21 ships departed from the occupied territories heading toward Turkey.
Furthermore, the Zionist regime receives nearly 40 percent of its oil via the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan (BTC) pipeline, a critical energy route that transports Caspian Sea energy through Azerbaijan, Georgia, and Turkey to the Turkish port of Ceyhan, from where it is shipped to ports in the occupied territories.
Despite Turkey's official claim of a complete halt to trade with Israel, it appears Turkish companies are circumventing the ban by rerouting exports through Palestine. Data from TiM indicates a significant increase in Turkish exports to the West Bank, over which Israel maintains complete control of goods transit.
In this relation, Ismail Bagheri, an expert on Turkish affairs, commented recently in an interview with Alwaght on the recent statements from Turkish officials and their sincerity regarding the boycott on Israel.
"The president [Erdogan] and the foreign minister [Fidan] have repeatedly emphasized in various settings that the Zionist regime is an occupier and have consistently defended the rights of the oppressed people of Gaza. However, all of this has been within the realm of declared and media policy. In practice, they have increased their economic relations with the Zionist regime of Israel, supplying it with fuel, steel, and other necessities. Therefore, one should not be deceived and believe Turkey's duplicitous and hypocritical policies. Even the recent statements by Hakan Fidan regarding keeping Turkish airspace closed should not be believed, as aircraft tracking sites show that, contrary to Ankara's claims, flights of Israeli aircraft through Turkish airspace are still ongoing. Perhaps the only issue that worries and will worry Turkey is the increasing presence and influence of the Israeli regime in Syria."
Mr Bagheri adds that the possible attacks by the Israeli regime on Iraq and its Public Mobilization Forces (PMF) has practically rattled Turkey. Still, Ankara cannot be the main adversary of Israel due to its NATO membership and some limits or interests and from another aspect wants a weak Syria do that it can occupy part of its territory, especially Idlib and Aleppo, two Syrian provinces Turkey has always trumpeted on its media as part of its territory. However, Turkey’s duplicitous and hypocritical policy will ultimately backfire, as the glaring contradiction between its rhetoric and actions severely undermines its regional and international credibility. This comes at a time when the Israeli regime, with unwavering support from the US and its Western allies, is seeking to impose a new Sykes-Picot in West Asia, a plan ultimately aimed at undermining national sovereignty and fragmenting regional states, including Syria, Iraq, and Jordan, and prospectively even Turkey and Iran.
At the end, one should know that amid repeated announcements by the Turkish officials and their emphasis on boycotting trade with Israel, this level of business ties with Israel comes as, polls show, 96 percent of Turks find Israel their enemy.
