The Jewish state has threatened retaliation against Ankara’s restrictions over the Gaza war
The Turkish government has imposed export restrictions on Israel covering 54 product categories, in response to the Gaza war, the Trade Ministry announced on Tuesday.
Ankara has been one of the fiercest critics of Israel since the conflict with Hamas broke out in October. Protests have been held in Istanbul in recent days demanding a trade ban. Ankara’s decision also follows the Israeli government’s refusal to allow Turkish aid drops into Gaza.
According to Turkish Trade Ministry, the items on the export embargo list – which takes immediate effect – include aluminum, copper, steel, construction materials, machinery, and various chemical products. Türkiye had already stopped sending Israel any goods that could be used for military purposes, the ministry noted.
The restrictions will remain in place until Israel declares a ceasefire in Gaza and allows “the unhindered flow of sufficient humanitarian aid” into the area, the document adds. Israel has been accused by the UN and human rights groups of obstructing the deliveries of aid into Gaza.
In response to the restrictions, the Israeli Foreign Ministry accused Türkiye of “unilaterally” violating bilateral trade deals. Foreign Minister Israel Katz took to X (formerly Twitter) on Tuesday to threaten Ankara with “parallel measures” that will “harm” the Turkish economy. Israel will prepare a list of products it intends to stop buying from Türkiye, he said. Katz also called on the US to halt investments in the country and impose sanctions on Ankara.
The trade dispute follows a diplomatic row between the two nations’ leaders. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has repeatedly compared the Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to Adolf Hitler and accused Israel of committing “genocide” against the Palestinians. Israel, meanwhile, has claimed that the Turkish president ranks among the worst anti-Semites in history, due to his stance on the conflict and support for Hamas.
Israel declared war on Hamas in October in response to a deadly raid staged by the militant group, in which at least 1,200 people were killed and more than 200 taken hostage. The retaliatory bombing of Gaza and ground operation has caused the deaths of at least 33,000 people, according to the territory’s Health Ministry.
https://www.rt.com/news/595649-turkiye-export-restrictions-israel/
Any moment now I am expecting John Cleese (a veteran of Monty Python) to jump out of the bushes and announce the creation of the Ministry of Silly Wars, with Donald Trump as the deranged leader. For you youngsters out there, Monty Python’s skit, The Ministry of Silly Walks, helped make the members of MP legends. I had to reference Monty Python because the line of bullshit the Trump administration is feeding the American people and the world about the amazing, obliterating US attack on Iranian nuclear sites on Sunday morning, is more ridiculous that all of the silly walks pictured in the following video:
My hopes that Donald Trump would finally act like a responsible adult are dashed. He’s a dangerous buffoon. While the team around him are working frantically to maintain the fiction that Trump has a vision and is calling the shots on the foreign policy front, he is careening around the globe like an out-of-control cue ball on a billiards table. It started a week ago… first, he claimed...
Tuesday marks the third anniversary of the launch of the Fujian, China's first aircraft carrier equipped with electromagnetic catapults. Official media said China is about to enter a three-aircraft-carrier era, with the Fujian expected to enter service by 2025.
After the launch of the Fujian on June 17, 2022, it carried out its first sea trial from May 1 to 8 in 2024. Since then, the Fujian has completed multiple sea trials, accumulating more than 100 days of sea trial, China Central Television (CCTV) News reported on Tuesday.
Wei Dongxu, a Chinese military affairs commentator, said that the aircraft carrier Fujian has been making steady progress in sea trials, and is expected to be commissioned within this year, CCTV News reported.
With a full displacement of more than 80,000 tons, the Fujian is the world's first conventionally powered aircraft carrier to feature electromagnetic catapult technologies, according to CCTV News. The report noted that it will carry a wide variety of carrier-borne...
Chinese President Xi Jinping said Tuesday that China and Central Asian countries have explored and formed the China-Central Asia Spirit, which features mutual respect, mutual trust, mutual benefit, mutual assistance, and the pursuit of common modernization through high-quality development.
Xi made the remarks in his speech at the second China-Central Asia Summit in the Kazakh capital of Astana.
Xi said that the Chinese side has decided to establish three cooperation centers and a trade facilitation platform within the China-Central Asia cooperation mechanism.
When addressing the summit, Xi said these institutions include the China-Central Asia poverty reduction cooperation center, the China-Central Asia education exchange cooperation center, the China-Central Asia desertification control cooperation center, as well as the China-Central Asia trade facilitation cooperation....more below