Turkey’s Trade Relations with Israel

ISTANBUL (Reuters) – Turkey may resume trade with Israel “if peace is permanent,” stated Nail Olpak, head of the Turkish Foreign Economic Relations Board (DEIK), on Tuesday.

Last year, Turkey cut trade ties with Israel due to the ongoing war in Gaza involving the Palestinian militant group Hamas. Recently, a complex ceasefire deal has been initiated between Israel and Hamas.

During a press conference in Istanbul, Olpak mentioned DEIK has noticed payment issues concerning goods exported to Russia through Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan, although he did not provide details.

Following Western countries’ imposition of unprecedented sanctions on Russia due to its invasion of Ukraine in 2022, Turkish exporters have faced challenges in receiving payments from Russia.

Additionally, Olpak revealed that DEIK has approached Finance Minister Mehmet Simsek requesting the reduction or elimination of the requirement for exporters to sell 30% of their foreign currency revenues to the central bank.

In June of the previous year, the central bank reduced the mandatory foreign exchange revenue sell-off ratio from 40% to 30% as its reserves improved.