Turkey Halts Trade and Closes Ports to Israeli Vessels

In a significant escalation of its stance, Turkey has halted trade with Israel and closed its ports to Israeli ships, stated Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan on Friday. The move is a protest against Israel's ongoing military offensive in Gaza, which Turkey has condemned as genocide.

Fidan informed the Turkish parliament that ports are now inaccessible to Israeli ships and Turkish vessels are barred from using Israeli docks. These steps extend to banning planes carrying weapons to Israel from entering Turkish airspace. He clarified that the measures target Israeli government flights and are not applicable to commercial transit flights.

Additionally, Turkey has called on the international community to impose measures on Israel, while preparing to carry out humanitarian airdrops to Gaza pending approval from Jordan. Fidan's comments underscore Turkey's strong opposition to Israel's actions in Gaza, with Israeli officials yet to comment.

(With inputs from agencies.)