In May 2024, Turkey announced a sweeping trade embargo on Israel, positioning itself as a staunch supporter of the Palestinian cause amid escalating Israeli military actions in Gaza. President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan condemned Israel’s operations as genocidal, vowing to sever all trade ties. Yet, a damning new report from the Stop Fueling Genocide campaign, supported by Progressive International, reveals that Turkey’s public stance on Palestine is undermined by clandestine oil shipments to Israel.
Satellite imagery and maritime data have exposed at least ten crude oil shipments from Turkey’s Ceyhan port to Israel’s EAPC terminal in Ashkelon over the past year. Alarmingly, eight of these shipments occurred after Ankara’s embargo announcement. This covert trade reveals a stark contradiction in Turkey’s policies, sparking outrage among activists and further complicating its already fraught international reputation.
The Ceyhan-Ashkelon Connection
At the heart of this controversy lies the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan (BTC) pipeline, which channels crude oil from Azerbaijan to Turkey’s Ceyhan port. Azerbaijan, a close ally of both Turkey and Israel, quadrupled its oil exports to Israel in 2024, reaching an unprecedented 2.37 million tons by September. This crude oil constitutes nearly 30% of Israel’s total oil imports and is refined to fuel Israeli military machinery, including F-35 fighter jets that have wreaked havoc in Gaza.
The report identifies two key vessels—Seavigour and Kimolos—as central to this trade. Both are Suezmax-class tankers, capable of carrying vast quantities of crude oil. These ships routinely turn off their AIS transponders in the eastern Mediterranean, effectively “disappearing” for days to obfuscate their movements. Satellite imagery, however, captured them docking at Israel’s EAPC terminal multiple times, contradicting Turkish claims of compliance with its embargo.
Erdoğan’s Hypocrisy: Public Rhetoric vs. Private Deals
While Erdoğan’s fiery speeches denounce Israeli aggression, the continued trade with Israel tells a different story. In late November, nine activists disrupted Erdoğan’s address at the TRT World Forum in Istanbul, accusing him of hypocrisy. Their protests centered on Turkey’s facilitation of oil shipments to Israel, despite its public pro-Palestinian stance. The activists were swiftly detained and arrested, a move critics say reflects Erdoğan’s growing intolerance for dissent and his government’s complicity in maintaining covert ties with Israel.
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This incident underscores the growing disillusionment among human rights advocates and the Turkish public. Activists argue that Erdoğan’s pro-Palestinian rhetoric is merely a façade, masking economic priorities and geopolitical maneuvering. The suppression of dissent further highlights the Turkish government’s unwillingness to confront its own duplicity.
Complicity in War Crimes?
The revelations have broader geopolitical implications, particularly as international scrutiny intensifies over Israeli actions in Gaza. If the International Court of Justice (ICJ) concludes that Israel is committing genocide, entities facilitating its military operations—like crude oil suppliers—could face accusations of complicity. Advocacy groups have called for stricter enforcement of Turkey’s embargo and greater accountability from global oil companies involved in this trade.
The Stop Fueling Genocide campaign emphasizes that crude oil from Turkey is not just a commercial product—it is a lifeline for Israeli military operations. A single shipment from the BTC pipeline can fuel approximately 100 F-35 fighter jets, underscoring the critical role of Turkish oil in sustaining Israel’s military aggression.
A Pattern of Deception
The report meticulously documents the repeated violations of Turkey’s trade embargo. The Kimolos, for instance, made ten documented trips between Ceyhan and Ashkelon from December 2023 to December 2024. On each occasion, the vessel loaded oil in Ceyhan, turned off its tracking signal in the Mediterranean, and reappeared empty days later. Satellite imagery corroborates these findings, showing the tanker docked at Israel’s EAPC terminal.
Similarly, the Seavigour followed an identical pattern in October 2023, loading oil in Ceyhan and offloading it in Ashkelon after a week-long blackout. This systematic evasion of monitoring mechanisms highlights a well-established trade route that directly contradicts Turkey’s official policies.
Activists Demand Action
The findings have galvanized calls for accountability from both Turkish and international actors. Activists are demanding that Turkey align its actions with its stated support for Palestine by enforcing the embargo and halting all oil shipments to Israel. They also urge multinational oil companies and financial institutions involved in the BTC pipeline to reconsider their complicity in enabling Israeli military aggression.
Critics argue that Erdoğan’s government must prioritize transparency and consistency in its foreign policy. Without concrete action to enforce the embargo, Turkey risks losing its credibility as a champion of Palestinian rights.
The Cost of Hypocrisy
The Stop Fueling Genocide campaign’s report lays bare the stark contradictions in Turkey’s foreign policy. While Erdoğan positions himself as a defender of Palestine, his government’s covert oil trade with Israel undermines this narrative, fueling military operations that have devastated Gaza.
This duplicity not only erodes Turkey’s credibility but also implicates it in the broader machinery of Israeli aggression. As calls for accountability grow louder, Ankara faces a critical choice: enforce its embargo and uphold its pro-Palestinian stance or continue to prioritize economic and geopolitical interests at the expense of human rights and justice.