An opposition leader has criticized Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan for speaking out about the conflict in Gaza instead of halting the country’s ongoing trade with Israel, which many see as a contradiction to the president’s harsh criticism of Israel’s military actions.
Israel began pounding Gaza in the aftermath of an unprecedented attack by Hamas militants on October 7 that left some 1,200 people dead in Israel. The death toll in Gaza, in the meantime, has exceeded 30,000, according to the Gaza Health Ministry.
“Some in our country may have learned about places like Palestine, Gaza and Ramallah for the first time only on October 7. Some circles may have heard about the Palestinian people’s struggle for rights and justice for the first time on October 7. But we have dedicated our lives to this struggle,” Erdoğan tweeted on Sunday.
“Fifteen years ago, with ‘One minute’, we displayed an attitude that no politician in the world would have dared to adopt. Just as we stood up against the oppressors and for the oppressed yesterday, we still stand in the same place and embrace the same dignified stance today. We hope we never abandon this stance,” Erdoğan tweeted.
With “One minute” Erdoğan was referring to an incident at a meeting in Switzerland in 2009, when he, prime minister at the time, stormed out of a World Economic Forum debate following a clash with then-Israeli president Shimon Peres over Israel’s offensive against Gaza.
Tweet atma, ticareti kes. https://t.co/WCg8k7vy9w
— Temel Karamollaoğlu (@T_Karamollaoglu) March 18, 2024
“Stop tweeting, halt trade with Israel,” Temel Karamollaoğlu, leader of the Islamist Felicity Party (SP), tweeted on Monday, quoting Erdoğan’s tweet.
Despite the ongoing conflict and Erdoğan’s condemnation, Israel remains an important trading partner for Turkey, ranking 13th on Turkey’s export list in 2023. Trade between the two countries totalled $5.42 billion last year, accounting for 2.1 percent of Turkey’s total exports, a decrease from $7 billion in 2022.
Data from the Turkish Ministry of Transportation show that between October 7 and December 31, 2023, an average of eight ships per day made a total of 701 trips from Turkish ports to Israel. Of these, 480 sailed directly, while 221 used Turkey as a transit country. Turkish exports to Israel rose to $430.6 million in December, an increase of 34.8 percent compared to November, indicating a continued and even growing economic relationship despite the political rhetoric.
According to the Turkish Karar daily, Ankara’s trade with Tel Aviv increased by 20.7 percent in February, reaching $422 million. Israeli Ministry of Agriculture data have also shown that Jordan and Turkey were the two countries that sent the most fruits and vegetables to Israel, Karar said.