Following the news, Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz issued a statement. Katz said that President Erdogan had broken agreements with Israel and that Israel would work to create trade alternatives, focusing on local production and imports from other countries.
According to the Turkish Statistical Institute, trade between the two countries was worth $6.8 billion in 2023, 76 percent of which was Turkish exports.
Turkey last month restricted exports of 54 product groups to Israel, including rebar, flat steel, marble and ceramics, due to the occupation of Gaza.
In response to a question during a bilateral press conference with German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier, which he hosted in Ankara on April 24, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said, "We no longer maintain intensive trade relations with Israel, that's over."
The Turkish Statistical Institute (TurkStat) releases foreign trade data at the end of each month. The data released on April 30 covers the month of March.
According to the data, trade with Israel did not slow down in March. On the contrary, both exports and imports reached their highest levels since October. Turkey's exports to Israel amounted to 437 million dollars, while its imports from the country amounted to 167.3 million dollars.
Whether trade changed in April will be revealed at the end of May.
In the first quarter of 2024, Israel ranked 12th in the list of Turkey's top export destinations. In the import ranking, Israel ranked 32nd in the first quarter.
