Turkey closes airspace for Israel, bars Israeli ships from ports | Here's why

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has repeatedly referred to Israel’s actions in Gaza as “genocide”, a charge that Israel has repeatedly denied.

Updated on: Aug 30, 2025, 09:04:02 IST

By HT News Desk

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Turkey on Friday took a series of stringent measures against Israel. As per the announcement made by the country’s foreign minister Hakan Fidan, the actions include closing its airspace for Israeli government planes, barring Israeli vessels from using Turkish ports and restricting its own ships from using Israeli ports.

Turkey's foreign minister Hakan Fidan said on August 29 that Ankara had closed its ports and airspace to Israeli ships and planes. A diplomatic source later clarified that the ban applied to "official" flights. (AFP)

These fresh measures come after Turkey suspended all direct trade with Israel in May 2024.

Why? Turkey has been a long-standing ally of Palestine and has been vocal against Israel’s offensive in Gaza ever since the ongoing war erupted on October 7, 2023. Turkish foreign minister Hakan Fidan announced these measures while addressing an extraordinary parliamentary session on the Gaza war.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has repeatedly referred to Israel’s actions in Gaza as “genocide”, a charge that Israel has repeatedly denied.

What Turkish foreign minister said

"We have totally cut our trade with Israel, we have closed off our ports to Israeli ships and we are not allowing Turkish vessels to go to Israel's ports," Fidan said while addressing the extraordinary parliamentary session.

He added that Turkey is also not allowing ships containing arms and ammunition going to Israel to enter its ports without giving much details.

"We are not allowing container ships carrying weapons and ammunition to Israel to enter our ports, and airplanes to go into our airspace.”

According to a Turkish diplomatic source, the country’s foreign minister was referring to Israeli government flights and flights carrying weapons to Israel, reported Reuters.

"The minister's comments refer to official Israeli flights and flights carrying weapons or ammunition to Israel. This does not apply to transit commercial flights," the source told the news agency.

Fidan also criticized Israel for its “reckless attacks” in Gaza and said that they will not only affect Palestinians but “will also set the entire region ablaze”.

“Israel has been committing genocide in Gaza for the past two years, ignoring basic humanitarian values before the eyes of the world,” local news outlet Daily Sabah quoted Fidas as saying.

(With inputs from Reuters, AP)

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