President Erdogan finally announced a ban on exports to Israel seven months after its genocide on Palestinians in Gaza began
News Desk - The Cradle
According to data released on Thursday from Israel's Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS), Israel imported $116 million worth of goods from Turkiye in May, a 69 percent decline from the same month last year.
However, the Turkish Exporters' Assembly (TIM) reported only $4 million worth of goods exported to Israel in May, a drop of over 99 percent compared to the previous year.
MEE reports that the discrepancy in reported exports is due to Turkish goods being shipped first to Greece and other third-party countries before reaching Israel.
This allows Turkiye to claim it is not exporting goods to Israel
In May, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan announced a total trade ban with Israel until a permanent ceasefire in Gaza is reached.
“The Israeli authorities don't even ask Turkish companies to amend their certificate of origin to re-export the goods through Greece because it would increase the costs further, so they are Turkish products,” one Turkish businessman told MEE.
“White label products with Hebrew tags were prioritized, but every sort of good is getting shipped to Israel, especially those ordered before the trade embargo.”
TIM data indicate that Turkiye's exports to Greece surged to $375 million in May, up 71 percent from $219 million in the same month last year.
A second Turkish businessman explained that Turkish exports, although passing through Greece, are still recorded as imports from Turkiye in Israeli statistics because they remain Turkish products.
Murat Yapici, the general manager of My Advisor consultancy, stated that large-scale Turkish exports to Israel via third countries may not continue indefinitely.
“This parallel trade might continue for a few more months, but Israeli companies are quickly aligning themselves with alternative suppliers in other countries like Egypt, Spain, and Italy,” the second businessman said.
“Turkey was the net exporter to Israel, and we are now facing the loss of that market.”
In 2023, Turkiye exported some $4.5 billion to Israel.
For the first months of Israel's war on Gaza, President Erdogan expressed harsh criticism but took no concrete actions to pressure Israel to end what is widely viewed as a genocide of Palestinians.
But after coming under harsh domestic criticism, which contributed to losses in local elections for his AK Party in March, Erdogan announced the trade ban with Israel.
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