Turkey’s opposition Good Party has called on the government to halt commercial shipping to Israeli ports, citing shipping tracking data that it said showed these voyages were continuing.
Turhan Chumez, deputy head of the party's parliamentary bloc, said that ships had left the port of Ambarli heading towards the port of Ashdod, while other ships had moved from the port of Iskenderun towards the port of Haifa, demanding that the authorities intervene and stop these trips.
This call revives the debate over the extent to which Turkey’s decision to halt trade with Israel, announced by the Ministry of Trade in May 2024, in light of the war in the Gaza Strip, will be implemented, and linking its resumption to allowing humanitarian aid to enter the Strip on a regular basis.
Chomez had previously indicated that shipments continued to arrive at Israeli ports via indirect routes, by changing the ships' destinations or stopping at ports in other countries, including Greece and Romania, before continuing the journey to its final destination.
These developments come amid escalating political tensions between Ankara and Tel Aviv, particularly regarding the Turkish military presence in Syria and Israeli airstrikes on sites reportedly linked to Turkish activity there.
According to the Turkish newspaper Zaman, analysts believe that the exchange of statements between the two sides is also influenced by internal political calculations, including the upcoming elections in Israel, as well as the parties' efforts to send messages to their popular bases.
