Turkey’s foreign minister announced on Friday that Ankara has shut its ports and airspace to Israeli ships and planes. A diplomatic source told AFP the ban applies to “official” flights.
“We have closed our ports to Israeli ships. We do not permit Turkish ships to sail to Israeli ports. We also refuse entry to container ships carrying weapons and ammunition bound for Israel, and we bar their aircraft from our airspace,” Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan told lawmakers in a televised address.
When asked to clarify the statement, a Turkish diplomatic source said the restrictions cover “all aircraft carrying weapons to Israel and Israel’s official flights”.
The timing of the airspace closure remains unclear.
In November, Turkey blocked the Israeli president’s plane from crossing its airspace, forcing him to cancel a planned visit to the COP29 climate summit in Azerbaijan. In May, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu cancelled a trip to Baku after Ankara reportedly refused overflight rights.
This week, Israel’s largest shipping company ZIM confirmed that, under new Turkish regulations introduced on 22 August, “vessels owned, managed or operated by an entity linked to Israel will not be allowed to dock in Turkish ports”.
Fidan’s comments marked the first public confirmation of the ban.