Turkey Makes History: Cuts Israel Off Completely - No Trade, No Skies, No Way Back

Turkey has taken its harshest step yet against Israel, severing all economic and trade ties while slamming its skies shut to Israeli aircraft.

The dramatic move, announced Friday by Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan, comes hours after reports that Israeli commandos dismantled long-hidden Turkish surveillance devices in Syria.

“We have decided to completely cut off our economic and trade relations with Israel and closed our airspace to its planes,” Fidan declared. In fiery remarks, he accused Israel of “massacring Palestinians in Gaza” and carrying out a “policy of starvation designed to make the Strip uninhabitable.”

The rupture strikes at a relationship that, despite deep political rifts, has until now relied on strong trade and tourism ties. Billions of dollars in commerce flowed annually between the two countries, now suddenly halted.

Ankara framed its decision as part of a joint effort with Qatar and Egypt to pursue a “fundamental solution” to the Palestinian question. Fidan also accused “extremist Israeli ministers and settlers” of stoking tensions around the Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem.

Israel’s recent raid in Syria exposed Turkish-made listening devices allegedly embedded for over a decade, a discovery Israeli officials described as “playing with fire.”

Meanwhile, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s unprecedented recognition of the Armenian genocide has further poisoned ties.