Turkey asked export group to help snuff out Israel trade, sources say

Turkey's government has asked one of the country's top export associations to help enforce a ban on trade with Israel, slowing the flow of goods in recent weeks, according to three people familiar with the matter.

Ankara has faced public criticism that trade may be continuing with Israel given a spike in exports to the Palestinian territories since the ban in May. So it turned to the Central Anatolian Exporters' Association, the sources said.

The Trade Ministry has asked the association to require more checks and approvals of proposed shipments, including vetting with Palestinian authorities, they said.

One of the sources, from an export association, said the new system began in mid-October, causing an initial backlog. The "main concern was goods still going to Israel, so there is a procedural change in exports to Palestine," he said.

In response to a Reuters query, the Trade Ministry said goods were only shipped if approved by Palestinian authorities under a bilateral trade mechanism. "The destination is Palestine and the importer is a Palestinian," it said.

The Central Anatolian Exporters' Association did not immediately comment.

According to official Turkish Statistical Institute data, Turkey, among the fiercest critics of Israel's war in Gaza, has cut exports there to zero since May, from a monthly average of $380 million in the first four months of the year.

But at the same time exports to Palestinian territories - which must flow through Israel - jumped around 10-fold to a monthly average of $127 million in June-September, from only $12 million in the first four months of the year, the data show.

New slower system

The top goods leaving Turkish ports and earmarked for Palestinian territories in recent months are steel, cement, machinery, and chemicals, according to the Turkish Exporters Assembly (TIM).

The jump in such exports raised suspicions the trade ban was being circumvented, sparking street protests that questioned one of the main policies President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's government imposed to oppose Israel's war in Gaza.

Opposition lawmakers have also sought answers in parliament.

Trade Minister Omer Bolat said this month that, before the ban, some $2 billion of Turkey's $6.5 billion annual trade with Israel was goods ultimately purchased by Palestinian buyers.

Last week, Bolat told parliament that the Palestinian Economy Ministry vetted all shipments. Turkey's trade ministry told Reuters that Palestinian confirmations then run through an electronic system, after which customs declarations require a separate approval.

The Central Anatolian Exporters' Association is an umbrella body for sector-specific export groups. In the past, they all usually quickly approved shipments with little question, the sources said.

Under the new instructions from the government, the association is the main approval body, two sources said. It must first confirm receipt of information about the proposed export including the Palestinian authorities' approval, and then approve a separate application for export, they said.

The first source said the system was working now, but slower than in the past due to relevant checks.

In the first 10 months of the year, exports to Palestinian territories were up 543% from a year earlier, TIM data show. In the first four months, before the Israel ban was imposed, they were up only 35%.