ISTANBUL (Dispatches) – 
Devlet Bahçeli, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s nationalist ally, on Tuesday sharply criticized the U.S. ambassador in Ankara for saying that Turkey and Israel could move into a new phase of cooperation across the region.
Bahçeli, the leader of the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP), that is a key ally of Erdoğan’s ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP), spoke at an MHP meeting in parliament and criticized U.S. Ambassador to Turkey and Special Envoy for Syria Tom Barrack, who said earlier in Bahrain that his “bet” was that if momentum around the Gaza agreement continues, Turkey and Israel would move from confrontation toward economic cooperation.
Bahçeli called the remarks “an advanced level of loss of reason” by an ambassador who wants to “draw a political course for the country where he serves” and said foreign mission officials in Turkey “must know their place.”
Barrack made his comments at the Manama Dialogue security forum, where he also said Turkey and Israel could form part of a wider regional alignment that stretches from the South Caucasus to the eastern Mediterranean.
Turkey halted all direct trade with Israel on May 2, 2024, when the Turkish Trade Ministry announced that all exports and imports “covering all products” had stopped, in response to Israel’s military campaign in Gaza and domestic pressure over images of mass civilian casualties.
President Erdoğan has repeatedly described Israel’s actions in Gaza as genocide, joined the case against Israel at the International Court of Justice and cast Turkey as one of the few states willing to use economic tools against Israel.
Turkish officials say the trade embargo remains in force and stress that it will only end after a permanent ceasefire in Gaza and an uninterrupted flow of humanitarian aid.
At the same time, shipping and customs data reviewed by independent outlets show that hundreds of vessels have continued to sail between Turkish ports and Israeli occupied territories since the embargo was announced, often through intermediaries, sparking criticism from activists who accuse Ankara of hypocrisy.