No Surprise: Anti-Israel Turkish Regime Cuts Commercial Ties With Jewish State

In a move unsurprising given Turkey’s harshly anti-Israel Islamist government, the country’s foreign minister announced Friday that Turkey has cut commercial ties with Israel—barring Israeli vessels from its ports, blocking Turkish ships from Israeli ports, and restricting Israeli planes from entering Turkish airspace.

“We have totally cut our trade with Israel, we have closed off our ports to Israeli ships and we are not allowing Turkish vessels to go to Israel’s ports,” Hakan Fidan stated. “We are not allowing container ships carrying weapons and ammunition to Israel to enter our ports, and airplanes to go into our airspace.”

Before Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan came to power in 2014, Turkey and Israel had strong strategic ties. That soured quickly, although a brief reconciliation occurred in 2016. Erdogan threatened to break relations again in 2017 after the U.S. recognized Jerusalem as Israel’s capital. Diplomatic ties were restored in August 2022, but only 16 days after the October 7, 2023, Hamas massacre of more than 1200 Israelis, Erdogan stated, “Hamas is not a terrorist organization … [but rather] a liberation group, ‘mujahideen’ waging a battle to protect its lands and people.”

“Turkey’s antipathy toward Israel and its affinity for Hamas is now so well established that diplomats accept it as fact. The open romance between the NATO member and the terror group began in 2006,” FDD reported. Erdogan has stated, “I don’t see Hamas as a terror organization. Hamas is a political party.”

Erdogan has accused Israel of “genocide” and supported South Africa’s genocide case against Israel at the International Court of Justice. In March of this year, Erdogan delivered a speech in which he ranted, “May Allah bring destruction and ruin upon Zionist Israel.”

In September 2024, at the United Nations, Erdogan likened Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to Adolf Hitler, saying, “Just as Hitler was stopped 70 years ago … so must Netanyahu and his murder gang be stopped.” In June 2025, he escalated his rhetoric, saying, “Netanyahu has surpassed Hitler in terms of genocide,” an insane declaration. Netanyahu fired back, “Erdogan, who commits genocide against the Kurds, who holds a world record for imprisoning journalists who oppose his rule, is the last person who can preach morality to us.”

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In August 2024, Israeli Minister of Foreign Affairs Israel Katz bashed Erdogan after he said the U.S. and Western countries were “taken hostage by the Zionists in Israel.”

“Erdogan, the ones taken hostage are the citizens of Turkey, trapped in your dictatorship,” Katz wrote on X. “You blocked Instagram for 57 million users in your country but left access to your own Instagram account. No matter how many attacks are made against me, I will continue to expose the truth to the people of Turkey and the world. A leader who embraces Hamas, oppresses his people, and acts like a dictator is a dictator.”

The anti-Semitic dictator @RTErdogan attacked the US and Western countries yesterday, saying they were “taken hostage by the Zionists in Israel.”

Erdoğan, the ones taken hostage are the citizens of Turkey, trapped in your dictatorship. You blocked Instagram for 57 million users… pic.twitter.com/EOgELcp2G4

— ישראל כ”ץ Israel Katz (@Israel_katz) August 6, 2024