Turkey’s foreign minister has said that Ankara has closed its ports and airspace to Israeli ships and planes, with a diplomatic source telling AFP the ban applied to “official” flights.
“We have closed our ports to Israeli ships. We do not allow Turkish ships to go to Israeli ports…. We do not allow container ships carrying weapons and ammunition to Israel to enter our ports, nor do we allow their aircraft to enter our airspace,” Hakan Fidan told lawmakers in a televised address.
A Turkish diplomatic source clarified that the airspace is “closed to all aircraft carrying weapons [to Israel] and to official Israeli flights.” The scope and timing of the restrictions remain unclear.
In November, Turkey refused to let the Israeli president’s plane cross its airspace, forcing him to cancel a planned visit to the COP29 climate conference in Azerbaijan.
And in May, Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu cancelled a visit to Baku after Ankara reportedly refused overflight rights.
Turkey has been one of Israel’s most vocal critics over the campaign in Gaza, accusing it of committing “genocide” in the Palestinian enclave—an allegation Israel strongly denies.
On Monday, Israel’s largest shipping company, ZIM, confirmed it had received notice from Turkish authorities that, under new regulations adopted on August 22, “ships owned, operated, or managed by organizations affiliated with Israel may not dock at Turkish ports.” The ban also applies to other vessels carrying military cargo bound for Israel.
The Turkish minister’s statement on Friday marked the first official confirmation of the ban.
