Turkey closes airspace to Israel, severs all economic ties

Turkey has decided to completely sever all commercial and economic ties with Israel and is closing its airspace to Israeli planes, Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan said Friday.

Detours caused by the closed airspace could increase the travel time of flights from Israel to countries like Georgia and Azerbaijan by almost two hours.

While the economic consequences of this move are yet to be seen, detours caused by the closed airspace could increase the travel time of flights from Israel to countries such as Georgia and Azerbaijan by almost two hours.

An Israeli official told The Jerusalem Post: “Turkey has already announced severing economic relations with Israel in the past (and the relations continued).”

The move comes following reports that Turkish port authorities have begun informally requiring shipping agents to provide letters declaring that vessels are not linked to Israel and not carrying military or hazardous cargo bound for the country.

The alleged move, as per shipping sources, is another step Turkey has taken against Israel after it last year severed trade with the country, worth $7 billion annually, over its war in Gaza with Hamas.

The sources said the harbor master’s office had verbally instructed port agents to provide written assurances, adding that there was no official circular on the issue.

Credit: Jerusalem Post