Despite Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan’s claim that Ankara has closed its airspace for Israeli aircraft, airlines say they have not received any information.

Earlier, Hakan Fidan had announced that Turkey had closed its airspace for Israeli aircraft.

“Turkey has stopped any trade relationship with Israel, does not allow Turkish ships to go to Israeli ports and has closed its airspace for Israeli aircraft,” Fidan told Parliament.

Israeli officials do not think there is anything new in the statements by Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan, according to the Times of Israel, considering that it had merely presented overall measures that Ankara has already taken against Israel, with some inaccuracies.

Turkey had announced last year that it was stopping all exports and imports to and from Israel, although it is said that some transactions continued implicitly. Bilateral trade had reached $ 6.8 billion in 2023, with Turkey being the fifth largest supplier of imported goods for Israel. The two countries have free trade agreements since the mid -1990s, which are now being violated.

In April, Turkish airlines resigned their seats at Ben Gurion Airport. For many years, Constantinople was a popular destination for Israeli tourists, who often used Turkish airlines and Ataturk Airport as a financial hub for connections to Europe and other areas. Prior to the war, Turkish Airlines was the fourth largest airline in Ben Gurion.

Despite Fidan statements, Israeli aircraft are still flying in the Turkish airspace and have not been instructed to do otherwise, Army Radio was reported by military radio station.

“Following reports on Turkey’s decision to close its airspace on Israeli aircraft, Arkia is in touch with the competent authorities,” the Israeli airline in Times of Israel told Times of Israel. “At this stage, no operational instructions have been taken.”

Israir also told the newspaper that “airspace has not been closed”.