President Erdoğan answered journalists' questions about the agenda after the Friday prayer

 

Answering reporters’ questions after Friday prayer, President Erdoğan, in answer to a question about Türkiye’s decision to halt all trade with Israel, said: “We had a trade volume of 9.5 billion dollars. We now have closed that door regardless of this trade volume.”

President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan answered reporters’ questions after performing Friday prayer in the Üsküdar district of Istanbul.

“IT IS OUT OF THE QUESTION FOR US TO STAY SILENT”

Answering a question about Türkiye’s decision to stop all trade with Israel, President Erdoğan said: “The developments between Israel and Palestine are unacceptable. Israel has mercilessly killed 40-45 thousand Palestinians so far. As Muslims, it is out of the question for us to stay silent to this. What are the steps that should be taken? We have taken these steps. As you know, some parties in our country, showing the cruel face of politics, used this issue pitilessly in the pre-election atmosphere.”

Noting that Türkiye has taken the necessary steps regarding Israel as the elections are now over in the country, President Erdoğan said that he had met with Netanyahu in the U.S. in a bid to show that certain steps could have been taken between Türkiye and Israel, but that the Israeli Prime Minister has acted brutally against children, women and elderly people. Pointing out that all western countries, particularly the U.S., support Israel, President Erdoğan stated that poverty-stricken Palestinians have been condemned to death under Israeli bombs, and added: “We couldn’t tolerate any more. Accordingly, we have taken steps. We had a trade volume of 9.5 billion dollars. We now have closed that door regardless of this trade volume.”