Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Friday that the suspension of trade relations with Israel, announced the day before, aimed to "force" the country to accept a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip.
"We have taken certain measures to force Israel to accept a ceasefire and to increase the volume of humanitarian aid entering (Gaza)," the president told businessmen in Istanbul. “We will monitor the consequences of the measure we have taken in cooperation (...) with our business community.”