Turkey’s government is either delaying or not approving export consignments from Turkey to Israel, over the past five days, a source familiar with the matter has informed “Globes.” Agencies working with Israeli importers say that the source of the delays is the Turkish government and it is unclear for how long the current situation will continue.
At the same time, “Globes” has been told that since last Friday, it has not been possible to pay export duties for consignments from Turkey to Israel with the Turkish website saying error with no option for proceeding and only for exports to Israel.
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Turkey removes Israel from export target list
Shipping lines operating on Turkey-Israel routes, which have remained very active despite the war, have now been delaying departure of ships in the hope that the situation can still be resolved and commodities will be able to leave the country. “Globes” understands that Israel’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs has already been informed about the situation and is checking out and dealing with the matter.
Though this is not an official sanction, there have been signs of severe measures by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan regarding trade between the countries. Last January, Turkey decided to remove Israel from its list of export destination countries, effectively stopping encouraging and subsidizing trade and support for businesses that operate with Israel. In addition, this sent a message to Turkish business owners, that if they get involved in trade with Israel, the state will not help them. The Turkish Ministry of Commerce has also stopped supporting joint conferences with Israel. This is a step that destroys the ability of the Turkish trade attache in Israel to encourage contacts between the countries.
A decline in Turkish imports to Israel
In 2023 Israel imported $5.42 billion in goods from Turkey, down from $7 billion in 2022, the Central Bureau of Statistics reports. Israeli exports to Turkey amounted to $1.5 billion in 2023, down from $2.5 billion in 2022.
Published by Globes, Israel business news – en.globes.co.il – on April 2, 2024.
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