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.
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
Given that in the US, President-elect Trump is stacking his foreign policy apparatus with pro-Israel officials, Turkey is set to possibly have rocky relations with the US moving forward as well.
However, Erdogan has expressed hope that Trump will will take a significantly different approach to the Middle East during his second term. One key issue remains US support to the Kurds of northern Syria, and another is America's policy on Gaza.
Erdogan is very malicious.
— MenchOsint (@MenchOsint) November 13, 2024
He claims to have cut trade with Israel, but here are some live tracking of ships from Turkey, faking their destination on the AIS system but heading to Israeli ports. https://t.co/bgaBv9vAYO pic.twitter.com/iGe1BnDZtR
"Our hope is that Trump takes very different steps towards the region this term because the messages being given from time to time concern us," Erdogan told reporters after leaving Baku.
But one area where Trump could work closely with Turkey in the near future and moving forward is Ukraine. Turkey has been key to the only successful negotiated deal of the war - the grain export deal allowing for Ukrainian products and Black Sea ships to safely reach global markets.