Turkey fully suspends trade and closes airspace to Israel, a wartime-level rupture that analysts warn could fuel dangerous escalation. Turkey’s full suspension of economic and trade relations with Israel, coupled with the closure of its airspace, marks an unprecedented escalation that could have far-reaching consequences, Dr. Hay Eytan Cohen-Yanarocak of Tel Aviv University warned in an interview with Maariv.
“A country will completely cut its economic and trade relations with another and closes its airspace to its planes, only during wartime,” Cohen Yanarocak said. “This move is unprecedented, removes mutual dependency, and could lead to strategic escalation.”
The rupture followed Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan’s announcement earlier this week. According to Cohen-Yanarocak, the deterioration had been building for months. “It didn’t surprise me. I’ve been waiting a long time for these gradual steps,” he said, pointing to earlier maritime sanctions. “The moment Israel declared its intention to expand the military operation in Gaza, they made the decision that very same day to impose maritime sanctions.”
Israeli forces exposing surveillance devices that had reportedly been sold to Damascus by Turkey gave Ankara the trigger it needed. “You could say it was expected to happen, but they were waiting for a specific incident in order to play this card,” he noted. (Read More)