Earlier this month Turkey submitted a letter to the United Nations calling for a complete arms embargo on Israel, charging that its military is committing genocide against Palestinians in Gaza.
Additional Link to Times of Israel
“We have written a joint letter calling on all countries to stop the sale of arms and ammunition to Israel. We delivered this letter, which has 54 signatories, to the UN on November 1,” said Hakan Fidan at a press conference in Djibouti, where he was attending a Turkey-Africa partnership summit.
“We must repeat at every opportunity that selling arms to Israel means participating in its genocide,” said Fidan, adding that the letter is “an initiative launched by Turkey.”
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has presented a full blockade on weapons as an ‘effective solution’ for ending the war in Gaza and achieving peace. Notably, among at least 52 countries to cosign that letter are Russia and China.
Erdogan on Wednesday highlighted the importance of the UN letter, warning that Israel “will become more and more aggressive if arms and ammunition supplies continue.”
He is lobbying the international community to sign onto the ban, and touting that powerful BRICS countries like Russia and China are leading the way.
In fresh comments made after visiting Saudi Arabia and Azerbaijan, Erdogan described, “China and Russia have both said that Israel’s attacks are unjust and illegal. They also talk about the need to stop the attacks and settle the issue diplomatically.”
Russia and China have signed our joint initiative calling on the UN to take measures to stop the supply of arms and ammunition to Israel. This is an important step,” he continued, as cited in Anadolu news agency.
“The humanitarian situation in Palestine and Lebanon will continue to deteriorate daily if Israel is not stopped. As long as humanitarian aid is not freely delivered, people will die there every day due to lack of medicine, hunger, thirst and merciless attacks,” Erdogan added.
Turkey-Israel relations have fallen to their lowest point in modern history, and an extensive ban on Turkish exports to Israel has remained in place; however, some analysts have highlighted that some materials are getting through and that top Erdogan officials are looking the other way. Several Wednesday reports have said Turkey has officially cut ties with Israel altogether…
President Recep Tayyip Erdogan announced that Turkey has officially severed relations with Israel, according to reports in Turkish media.
News outlet Medya Ege reported Erdogan to have said, “We, as the State and Government of the Republic of Turkey, have cut off relations with Israel. We do not have any relationship with Israel at this point. Period.” —Newsweek