Turkey is further hardening its stance on Israel by cutting off all trade with Tel Aviv, intensifying a bitter conflict between the two countries over Israel’s activities in Gaza and the humanitarian crisis in the region.
“This is how the dictator behaves, ignoring the interests of the Turkish people and Turkish businessmen and ignoring international trade agreements,” replied Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz.
In the wake of the firefight, Turkish President Netanyahu has been described as the “assassin of Gaza” and “Hitler”.
However, Ankara has not yet made an official announcement about this.
According to official data, trade between the two countries will reach 6.8 billion dollars in 2023, of which 76 percent are Turkish exports.
It is worth recalling that Turkey has already limited exports to Israel since last month.
Erdogan: Praise for pro-Palestinian protests in US colleges
Meanwhile, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has criticized the US’s handling of pro-Palestinian protests, accusing it of hypocrisy in its stance on the war in Gaza.
In particular, Erdogan praised the pro-Palestinian demonstrations at American colleges, describing the participants as “conscientious students and educators.”
His comments come amid campus protests that first erupted last month at New York’s Columbia University.
UCLA: Violent Clashes, Dozens of Arrests After Police Occupy Campus
“They are subjected to violence and torture. Principals and academics are fired, assassinated,” Erdogan said, criticizing the lack of international condemnation of such incidents. “Because Israel’s interests draw the limits of Western democracy.”
Erdogan’s criticism extended beyond the United States, where he condemned what he called Israel’s brutal actions, including targeting civilian infrastructure and carrying out mass killings.
He also argued that the increase in attacks against Turkey and Turkish communities in Europe was an attempt to silence Ankara’s open criticism of Israel’s actions in Gaza.
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