Türkiye stands firm against false claims of defence ties with Israel

Türkiye has rejected allegations of cooperation with Israel, particularly defence-based cooperation, saying the country will not do anything that will harm Palestinians and their cause.

"It is not possible for the Republic of Türkiye, which has always supported Palestine, to carry out or engage in any activity that would harm Palestinians," the country's Defence Ministry said on Tuesday.

The ministry said it does not have any activities with Israel, "including military training, exercises and defence industry cooperation."

The statement came after false claims by some media outlets that Türkiye continues to export gunpowder, weapons and ammunition to Israel.

Separately, the Turkish Communications Directorate's Center for Countering Disinformation also rejected the reports after examining several social media posts.

"The products in the 93rd chapter of the alleged export list are not war weapons and ammunition but ungrooved rifle spare parts and accessories and fishing equipment used for individual purposes such as sports and hunting," it said on X.

According to data from the Turkish Statistical Institute [TURKSTAT], there have been no exports of rifles for sports and hunting purposes since May 2023, which already had low figures, it added.

"The products exported under the heading 'Gunpowder and explosives, pyrotechnic products, matches, pyrophoric alloys, combustible preparations' in the 36th chapter of the export list were 'gel fuel and lighter fluid.'"

"It has been determined that attempts were made to manipulate public opinion regarding the products included in the chapter headings of the Customs Tariff and exported by private companies," it added.

Since the Israeli war on besieged Gaza on October 7 and long before, Türkiye has been unwavering in its support for Palestine.

Israeli genocide in Gaza

Raising awareness of the "barbarities" committed against the people of Gaza and preventing Israeli disinformation are among Türkiye's chief duties, the country's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has said.

Israel has also been taking advantage of its influence over global media organisations, while at the same time accelerating its disinformation efforts, Erdogan said recently.

Israel has killed has killed at least 32,414 people and wounded 74,787 in the blockaded enclave since October 7 Hamas blitz.

Hamas says its response, which some experts compare to the Jews' revolt in the Warsaw ghetto in 1943, came in response to regular Israeli attacks on Al-Aqsa Mosque, illegal settler violence in occupied West Bank and to put Palestine question "back on the table."

In an assault of startling breadth, Hamas gunmen rolled into as many as 22 locations outside Gaza, including towns and other communities as far as 24 kilometres from the Gaza fence.

In some places they are said to have gunned down many soldiers as Israel's military scrambled to muster response. And upon return to Gaza, they also took along some 240 hostages, including Israeli military personnel and civilians.

Dozens of the captives were later exchanged for Palestinians incarcerating in Israeli dungeons.

Since then, Israel has killed and maimed tens of thousands and has pushed 85 percent of Gaza's population into internal displacement amid acute shortages of food, clean water and medicine, while 60 percent of the enclave's infrastructure has been damaged or destroyed, according to the UN.

Israel is accused of genocide at the International Court of Justice, which in January issued an interim ruling that ordered Tel Aviv to stop genocidal acts and take measures to guarantee that humanitarian assistance is provided to civilians in Gaza.

On Monday, a leading UN rights expert said there were "reasonable grounds" to determine that Israel has committed several acts of "genocide" in its war in Gaza, also evoking "ethnic cleansing".

Francesca Albanese, the UN special rapporteur on the rights situation in the Palestinian territories, said there were clear indications that Israel had violated three of the five acts listed under the UN Genocide Convention.