Haydarpasa port on the Bosphorus in Istanbul. Bilateral trade between Turkey and Israel was nearly $6.8 billion last year. EPA
Haydarpasa port on the Bosphorus in Istanbul. Bilateral trade between Turkey and Israel was nearly $6.8 billion last year. EPA
Haydarpasa port on the Bosphorus in Istanbul. Bilateral trade between Turkey and Israel was nearly $6.8 billion last year. EPA
Haydarpasa port on the Bosphorus in Istanbul. Bilateral trade between Turkey and Israel was nearly $6.8 billion last year. EPA

Turkey cuts off trade with Israel over Gaza war


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Turkey has confirmed it will stop all trade with Israel until the country allows humanitarian aid to flow uninterrupted into Gaza.

The decision expands on a move announced in April to restrict some Turkish exports to Israel due to the “worsening humanitarian tragedy in Palestine”, Turkey's Trade Ministry said on Thursday.

It said efforts were under way to ensure that Palestinians were not adversely affected.

The pause took effect on Thursday, sources told Bloomberg.

“The second phase of the measures taken at the state level has been started, and export and import transactions related to Israel have been suspended to cover all products,” the ministry said.

“Turkey will firmly and decisively implement these new measures until the government of Israel allows an uninterrupted and sufficient flow of humanitarian aid to Gaza.”

The move represents an escalation in the rift between Israel and Turkey over the war in Gaza. On Thursday, Israel's Foreign Minister Israel Katz accused Turkey of cutting off trade with his country.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan “is breaking agreements by blocking ports for Israeli imports and exports”, Mr Katz said in a post on X. “This is how a dictator behaves, disregarding the interests of the Turkish people and businessmen, and ignoring international trade agreements.”

Mr Katz said he instructed the Director General of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to “immediately engage with all relevant parties in the government to create alternatives for trade with Turkey, focusing on local production and imports from other countries”.

“Israel will emerge with a strong and daring economy. We win and they lose,” he said.

Bilateral trade between Turkey and Israel stood at nearly $6.8 billion last year, according to the Turkish statistical institute data. More than 75 per cent of this was Turkish exports.

Last year, the largest export from Turkey to Israel was iron and steel, while the primary import was refined oil products.

Formed in 1993 to promote trade ties between the two countries, the Turkey-Israel Business Council includes companies' goods and services ranging from digital payments technologies to metal packaging.

The latest actions followed Turkey's recent announcement of plans to join South Africa's case against Israel at the UN's highest court, accusing Israel of genocide in Gaza.

Turkey had already announced it was restricting some exports to Israel amid strained relations between the two countries over Israel's continuing war in Gaza.

In April it said it was imposing restrictions on a list of goods because of Israel's refusal to allow Turkey to take part in aid drop operations over Gaza.

The list provided by the ministry includes 54 items, among them construction materials such as marble, cement, steel and aluminium products.

A flotilla laden with aid for Gaza has also been stuck in port in Turkey, due to an “administrative roadblock” initiated by Israel, organisers said.

The Freedom Flotilla of three ships, which aims to deliver more than 5,000 tonnes of humanitarian aid to the strip, was due to leave Istanbul on Friday, but has since been delayed.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan addresses an Istanbul rally in solidarity with Palestinians in Gaza, in October 2023. Reuters
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan addresses an Istanbul rally in solidarity with Palestinians in Gaza, in October 2023. Reuters

The recent moves by Ankara came after Mr Erdogan faced criticism for not stopping trade with Israel.

After local elections in March in which he lost votes to more conservative Islamist parties, Turkey’s leader has been under increasing pressure from the public to take more forceful action against Israel.

But Mr Erdogan has been a vocal critic of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the Israeli government's policies towards Palestinians.

He has accused Israel of being a “terrorist state” and voiced his support for Hamas.

Mr Erdogan has come under pressure domestically with protesters calling for him to cut off relations with Israel due to the Gaza war, in which more than 34,500 Palestinians have been killed since October.

Pro-Palestine demonstrations have grown in Turkey in recent weeks.

In August 2022, Turkey and Israel announced the restoration of diplomatic ties and the return of ambassadors to each other’s countries after years of tension.

Both countries had also agreed to explore co-operation avenues.

However, the Hamas-led attack on Israel on October 7 reignited hostilities, leading to the current conflict.

UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
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%3Cp%3ECreator%3A%20Tima%20Shomali%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3EStarring%3A%C2%A0Tara%20Abboud%2C%C2%A0Kira%20Yaghnam%2C%20Tara%20Atalla%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3ERating%3A%204%2F5%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
The specs: 2019 Mini Cooper

Price, base: Dh141,740 (three-door) / Dh165,900 (five-door)
Engine: 1.5-litre four-cylinder (Cooper) / 2.0-litre four-cylinder (Cooper S)
Power: 136hp @ 4,500rpm (Cooper) / 192hp @ 5,000rpm (Cooper S)
Torque: 220Nm @ 1,480rpm (Cooper) / 280Nm @ 1,350rpm (Cooper S)
Transmission: Seven-speed automatic
Fuel consumption, combined: 4.8L to 5.4L / 100km

Match info

Karnataka Tuskers 110-3

J Charles 35, M Pretorius 1-19, Z Khan 0-16

Deccan Gladiators 111-5 in 8.3 overs

K Pollard 45*, S Zadran 2-18

The specs
  • Engine: 3.9-litre twin-turbo V8
  • Power: 640hp
  • Torque: 760nm
  • On sale: 2026
  • Price: Not announced yet
Results

3pm: Handicap (PA) Dh40,000 (Dirt) 1,000m; Winner: Dhafra, Antonio Fresu (jockey), Eric Lemartinel (trainer)

3.30pm: Maiden (PA) Dh40,000 (D) 2,000m; Winner: Al Ajayib, Antonio Fresu, Eric Lemartinel

4pm: Handicap (PA) Dh40,000 (D) 1,700m; Winner: Ashtr, Abdul Aziz Al Balushi, Majed Al Jahouri

4.30pm: Handicap (TB) Dh40,000 (D) 1,700m; Winner: Falcon Claws, Szczepan Mazur, Doug Watson

5pm: Sheikh Dr Sultan bin Khalifa Al Nahyan Cup – Prestige Handicap (PA) Dh100,000 (D) 1,700m; Winner: Al Mufham SB, Al Moatasem Al Balushi, Badar Al Hajri

5.30pm: Sharjah Marathon – Handicap (PA) Dh70,000 (D) 2,700m; Winner: Asraa Min Al Talqa, Al Moatasem Al Balushi, Helal Al Alawi

The%20specs
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ESSENTIALS

The flights

Emirates flies from Dubai to Phnom Penh via Yangon from Dh2,700 return including taxes. Cambodia Bayon Airlines and Cambodia Angkor Air offer return flights from Phnom Penh to Siem Reap from Dh250 return including taxes. The flight takes about 45 minutes.

The hotels

Rooms at the Raffles Le Royal in Phnom Penh cost from $225 (Dh826) per night including taxes. Rooms at the Grand Hotel d'Angkor cost from $261 (Dh960) per night including taxes.

The tours

A cyclo architecture tour of Phnom Penh costs from $20 (Dh75) per person for about three hours, with Khmer Architecture Tours. Tailor-made tours of all of Cambodia, or sites like Angkor alone, can be arranged by About Asia Travel. Emirates Holidays also offers packages. 

The five pillars of Islam

1. Fasting

2. Prayer

3. Hajj

4. Shahada

5. Zakat 

Specs%20
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What is an FTO Designation?

FTO designations impose immigration restrictions on members of the organisation simply by virtue of their membership and triggers a criminal prohibition on knowingly providing material support or resources to the designated organisation as well as asset freezes. 

It is a crime for a person in the United States or subject to the jurisdiction of the United States to knowingly provide “material support or resources” to or receive military-type training from or on behalf of a designated FTO.

Representatives and members of a designated FTO, if they are aliens, are inadmissible to and, in certain circumstances removable from, the United States.

Except as authorised by the Secretary of the Treasury, any US financial institution that becomes aware that it has possession of or control over funds in which an FTO or its agent has an interest must retain possession of or control over the funds and report the funds to the Treasury Department.

Source: US Department of State

PROFILE OF HALAN

Started: November 2017

Founders: Mounir Nakhla, Ahmed Mohsen and Mohamed Aboulnaga

Based: Cairo, Egypt

Sector: transport and logistics

Size: 150 employees

Investment: approximately $8 million

Investors include: Singapore’s Battery Road Digital Holdings, Egypt’s Algebra Ventures, Uber co-founder and former CTO Oscar Salazar

JAPANESE GRAND PRIX INFO

Schedule (All times UAE)
First practice: Friday, 5-6.30am
Second practice: Friday, 9-10.30am
Third practice: Saturday, 7-8am
Qualifying: Saturday, 10-11am
Race: Sunday, 9am-midday 

Race venue: Suzuka International Racing Course
Circuit Length: 5.807km
Number of Laps: 53
Watch live: beIN Sports HD

Sole survivors
  • Cecelia Crocker was on board Northwest Airlines Flight 255 in 1987 when it crashed in Detroit, killing 154 people, including her parents and brother. The plane had hit a light pole on take off
  • George Lamson Jr, from Minnesota, was on a Galaxy Airlines flight that crashed in Reno in 1985, killing 68 people. His entire seat was launched out of the plane
  • Bahia Bakari, then 12, survived when a Yemenia Airways flight crashed near the Comoros in 2009, killing 152. She was found clinging to wreckage after floating in the ocean for 13 hours.
  • Jim Polehinke was the co-pilot and sole survivor of a 2006 Comair flight that crashed in Lexington, Kentucky, killing 49.
Updated: May 03, 2024, 5:51 AM`