Türkiye on Monday dismissed claims of alleged trade with Israel, reiterating that Ankara has completely suspended all exports and imports with Israel since May this year.

“The claim in some media outlets and shared on social media that ‘Turkey’s trade with Israel continues’ is false,” the Center for Combating Disinformation of the Presidential Communications Directorate said.

“Starting May 2, 2024, Turkey has completely suspended all exports and imports with Israel, including all products,” a post on X said.

He also said that since this date, no customs declarations have been registered for exports and imports with Israel.

“The claim in the aforementioned posts that ‘According to the Turkish Statistical Institute, it was found that trade is still ongoing with 624, Israel’s foreign trade code,’ is also completely unfounded,” the statement said.

“After analyzing the Turkish Statistical Institute data, it is clear that the data in question refers to trade data until May 2024 and that there is no trade with Israel after that.”

Trade Minister Ömer Bolat recently also vehemently denied any ongoing commercial activity with Israel, pointing out that Ankara has stopped all trade since May. He reiterated that the suspension would continue until Israel agreed to a permanent ceasefire and allowed unrestricted humanitarian aid into Gaza.

However, Türkiye continues to allow trade with the Palestinian Authority in East Jerusalem, the West Bank and the Gaza Strip under a joint agreement, provided that the Palestinian Authority confirms that the goods are destined for the Palestinian territories and are exported by Palestinians. Bolat emphasized that Turkey’s trade with these areas is documented and is aligned with supporting the Palestinian people.

The Communications Directorate went on Monday to clarify that “since trade between Israel and Turkey has been completely suspended, effective May 2, all foreign trade transactions with Palestine are conducted using the code number granted to the State of Palestine.”

“Before May, even if the goods were destined for Palestine, the importer was considered to be the State of Israel because they arrived through Israeli ports; however, after May, it was mandatory to include the Palestinian country code in the declarations,” it said. said.

He also noted that since the State of Palestine does not have an operational port on the Mediterranean coast, all exports to the country are routed through Israeli ports.

“However, for exports to Palestine, goods can only be exported after receiving approval from the Palestinian Ministry of National Economy before being transported by ship,” it added.

Responding to what happens if containers are prevented from entering the country, he said: “Preventing containers from entering the country implies that goods from other companies with no ties to Israel are also prohibited from entering Turkey.”

“This would have a negative impact on Turkey’s foreign trade, but would have no effect on Israel’s trade.”

Questioning why Israeli sources indicate that trade with Türkiye continues, the center also said: “Israel considers all foreign trade statistics related to Palestine to be its own, and therefore Israeli records give the impression that trade with Türkiye continues. said the Palestinian Minister of National Economy, Mohammed al-Amour”.

In addition to suspending trade with Israel, Turkish officials called on all countries to impose an arms embargo on Israel.

In violation of a UN Security Council resolution calling for an immediate ceasefire, Israel continued a brutal offensive on Gaza following a cross-border attack by the Palestinian resistance group Hamas last October.

The assault killed more than 43,000 people and made the enclave almost uninhabitable.

Israel is facing a genocide case at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) for its actions in the blockaded enclave.

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