Turkey confirms airspace ban on Israeli aircraft

Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan announced on August 29th that Turkey has closed its airspace to Israeli official and military aircraft, according to Middle East Eye. The statement came during a parliamentary address on the Gaza crisis.

“We have completely cut off our trade with Israel. We have closed our ports to Israeli ships and are not allowing Turkish ships to dock at Israeli ports. No other country has fully severed trade ties with Israel as we have,” Fidan said.

“We are barring container ships carrying weapons and ammunition to Israel from entering our ports, and we are not permitting Israeli aircraft to use our airspace.”

While the announcement was presented as a new escalation, Turkish officials told Middle East Eye that Israel has in fact been barred from Turkish airspace since late 2023. A source close to the matter clarified that international commercial airlines flying to Israel are still permitted to use Turkish skies. However, official, military, and private Israeli planes have been blocked for some time.

A second Turkish official pointed to a specific incident in November 2024, when Israeli President Isaac Herzog’s flight to Azerbaijan was denied passage over Turkey. “We have been consistently denying Israeli official flight requests for quite some time,” the official said.

Fidan framed the policy as a direct response to Israel’s ongoing military assault on Gaza, provocations at Jerusalem’s Al-Aqsa Mosque, and escalating settler violence in the occupied West Bank. He also urged Islamic nations to step up diplomatic pressure, including moves at the United Nations.

“We must unite our efforts to sustain and expand momentum for Palestine’s recognition while launching an initiative at the UN for Palestine’s full membership. Additionally, we must consider suspending Israel from the work of the General Assembly,” he said during an Organisation of Islamic Cooperation summit in Riyadh.

The airspace restrictions follow a series of Turkish sanctions imposed on Israel. In July, Ankara announced six punitive measures in line with the Hague Group’s joint statement from the Emergency Conference on Palestine in Bogotá. Turkey also barred Israeli-owned and affiliated vessels from docking at Turkish ports.

Relations between Ankara and Tel Aviv have sharply deteriorated since 2024, when Turkey joined South Africa’s case at the International Court of Justice accusing Israel of genocide. Since then, Ankara has increasingly used international platforms to rally support against Israel’s ongoing genocide in Gaza.

Middle East Eye, Maghrebi.org