Ankara pause of trade with Israeli occupation...step buoyed by high rating

News report by Osama Al-Saeed ANKARA, May 7 (KUNA) --- In a widely welcomed humanitarian step, Turkiye has recently decided to completely suspend trade exchange with the Israeli occupation in order to press for relief aid access to the Gaza Strip, which has been under aggressions for over 200 days.
In recent remarks, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said that his country had halted bilateral trade with the Israeli occupation, which amounts to approximately USD 9.5 billion.
"There was a trade volume of USD 9.5 billion between us. Ignoring this trade volume, we closed the door," Erdogan said on Friday.
The Turkish president's statement came amid the continued aggression by Israeli occupation forces on the enclave, which has so far left at least 35,000 Palestinians dead and nearly 78,000 others injured.
Erdogan even lashed out at Western countries by saying" "All Western countries, led by the US, are supporting Israeli occupation." However, it is not the first time for Ankara to impose a trade blockade on the Israeli occupation as it has already decided restrictions on 54 products since April even though the Turkish economy has been undergoing high inflation rates and local currency depreciation.
Turkiye has so far provided tens of thousands of humanitarian and relief aid to the population of Gaza, particularly foodstuff and medical supplies, and has hosted thousands of injured Palestinians for necessary medical treatment.
The decision, which was announced by the Turkish Ministry of Commerce last week, was widely welcomed by Turkish trade, economic and industrial agencies.
Chairman of the Independent Industrialists' and Businessmen's Association (MUSIAD) Mahmut Asmali was quoted as saying in a press statement that the decision to suspend trade with the Israeli occupation was the most significant step to impose a blockade on the Israeli occupation.
He underlined that the decision should remain until unrestricted and unconditioned humanitarian aid is allowed into the territory.
Anatolian Lions Businessmen Association (Anadolu Aslanlari Dernegi) also spoke highly of the Turkish government's decision in response to the Israeli occupation aggression, which has claimed the lives of more than 35,000 Palestinian civilians and injury of nearly 78,000 others.
Chairman of the Istanbul Chamber of Commerce Sekib Avdagic said in a similar statement that the recent suspension of trade ties with the Israeli occupation is a good step towards a complete economic ban on this entity.
He voiced the chamber's support for the decision to halt exports and imports of all products to the Israeli occupation as a purely humanitarian step.
He believed that the Turkish government has demonstrated a high-level position against this crime against humanity in Palestine by means of suspending trade with the Israeli occupation until humanitarian aid is allowed into Gaza in a sustainable and sufficient manner.
For his part, Chairman of the Istanbul Commodity Exchange Ali Kopuz said that anyone that commits crimes against humanity should pay the price.
He added that the recent decision to suspend trade with the Israeli occupation unless adequate relief aid is allowed into the Gaza Strip was unquestionably essential amid the worsening humanitarian situation.
Turkish exports to the Israeli occupation makes up roughly 2.1 percent of this Muslim country's total exports, according to Turkish official statistics. Two-way trade exchange hit USD 6.8 billion last year, but a few months later Turkish exports to the Israeli occupation declined by around two billion US dollars, accounting for 28 percent.
Estimates show that the decision to suspend trade with the Israeli occupation would have a rather limited impact on the Turkish national economy.
The move was even followed by Standard & Poor's decision to raise Turkiye's credit rating by one notch from (B) to (B+) after 11 years and kept expectations positive. Commenting on the decision, Turkish Minister of Treasury and Finance Mehmet Simsek confirmed that the positive results of the economic program were reflected in its credit rating after (Standard & Poor's) announced that it had raised Turkiye's credit rating to (B+).
"The positive expectations for the rating from Standard & Poor's, Fitch, and Moody's augur well for a sustained upward trend in the rating," he said.
"We are determined to raise our country to the highest level through our economic program, which we continue to strengthen and implement," he added. (end) oas.mt