2024-05-05 00:15:30
Foreign Minister Kats called Erdogan a “dictator”
Turkey is suspending all trade with Israel because of the “worsening humanitarian tragedy” in the Gaza Strip, the BBC reported. According to last year’s data, we are talking about an exchange of goods worth nearly $7 billion. Turkey’s trade ministry said the measures would remain in place until Israel allowed a “continuous and sufficient flow” of aid to Gaza.
In response, Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz accused Turkish President Recep Erdogan of behaving like a dictator. X Katz wrote on the social network that with his decision, Erdogan is ignoring the interests of the Turkish people and business, including international trade agreements. He added that he has tasked his colleagues to find alternatives for trade with Turkey with an emphasis on local production and imports from other countries.
In 1949, Turkey was the first Muslim-majority country to recognize Israel. However, relations between the two countries have deteriorated in recent decades.
In 2010, Ankara severed diplomatic relations with Jerusalem after eight pro-Palestinian Turkish citizens and one Turkish-American died when a Turkish ship was stormed by Israeli commandos. The Turkish authorities then demanded an apology and compensation from the Israeli state, which it refused. Relations were restored in 2016, but two years later both sides expelled senior diplomats in a row over the killing of Palestinians amid protests on the Gaza-Israel border.
Recently, Erdogan has become increasingly harsh in his criticism of Israel after the deadly attack by Hamas on October 7 of this year. He has repeatedly criticized Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, comparing him to Adolf Hitler, Benito Mussolini and Joseph Stalin. He is also called “the butcher of Gaza”. However, Netanyahu has repeatedly stated that the leader of Turkey is the last person who can preach morality to him. In March, he accused Erdogan of supporting the mass murderers and rapists of Hamas, denying the Armenian genocide and slaughtering Kurds in his own country.