'Local and national' companies have their investments in Israel

Following the October 7 attack by Palestinian groups led by Hamas, the war initiated by Israel is continuing for a month now. With support from the West, Israel continues to commit new war crimes every day. Though faint, there are rising voices in the international community calling to "stop the massacre."

The call for the cessation of war and the end of the massacre is expressed more loudly in Turkey. However, these efforts have not gone beyond mere wishes. Bahçeli, not long ago, was once again on the path of 'casting the line' with his words, "If my state demands, conditions necessitate, and I do not set out to spread my wings over the children in Gaza, then I am not worth much." Erdogan also condemned Israel with 'harsh' words. However, all that has been said was not sufficient to resonate with the feelings of the Muslim population living in Turkey.

Despite Erdogan's 'one minute' stance, and his preference to maintain a tense relationship with Israel following the incident, he has also given the green light for Israeli natural gas to be transported to Europe through Turkey. Today, it is often stated that the desire of Israel to occupy the Gaza Strip is also driven by the rich natural gas resources off the coast of Gaza. Days before the October 7 attack, Erdogan had also announced the 'good news' of joint drilling operations with Israel.

The protests made by Muslim groups after Friday prayers were limited to street calls for jihad. We also witnessed some actions, such as calls for boycotting certain foreign brands and leaving pet mice at a fast-food restaurant. Turkish Airlines also announced that it would not include Israeli products on its flights.

While reading all this, I thought about the political, military, and economic relations between Israel and Turkey. Political and military relations are relatively more visible, so I would like to draw attention to the economic ties.

According to the 2023 report of the Turkey Exporters Assembly, Israel became the 10th largest export destination for Turkey in 2022, with a trade volume of $7.03 billion.

The history of the Turkey-Israel Business Council, established under the Foreign Economic Relations Board (DEİK) between Turkey and Israel, dates back to 1993. İbrahim Sinan Ak currently serves as the council's president.

Ak is currently the CEO of Zorlu Energy Electricity Generation Inc., a company within the Zorlu Group.

Ahmet Nazif Zorlu, praised by President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan as "one of the five heroes," was given an award recently.

Zorlu Energy Electricity Generation Inc., a subsidiary of the Zorlu Group, has significant investments in Israel. In fact, within the group, there is a company called "Zorlu Energy Israel Ltd.," established in Israel in 2017. Zorlu has three natural gas power plants in Israel and a solar power plant in Palestine.

Zorlu Group, in its notification to the Public Disclosure Platform (KAP), provides the following information about the power plants:

Zorlu Energy owns 75% of ZJ Strong Energy for Renewable Energy Ltd Co., which operates a 2 MW solar power plant in the Deodsea region of Palestine.

(...)

Zorlu Energy became a 25% partner in Dorad Energy Ltd. in 2003 to invest in an 840 MW capacity combined-cycle natural gas power plant in the city of Ashkelon, Israel. The Dorad Natural Gas Power Plant started commercial operations in May 2014. Zorlu Energy's 42.15% partner, Ezotech Electric Ltd., was established to own 100% of Ashdod Energy Ltd. and Ramat Negev Energy Ltd. in Israel and engage in electricity trading according to the subsidiaries' business plans. Two natural gas cogeneration power plant projects managed by Ezotech, the Ashdod plant on December 20, 2015, and the Ramat Negev plant on December 31, 2015, started operations. Due to higher production values achieved in performance tests conducted by the market regulator, "Israel Electric Corporation," the production licenses of the plants were amended in 2016. The installed capacity of the Ashdod plant was increased from 55 MW to 64.54 MW, and the installed capacity of the Ramat Negev plant was raised from 120 MW to 126.4 MW.

Zorlu Energy's 42.15% partner, Solad Energy Ltd., was established in 2006 to invest in a cogeneration power plant with approximately 77 MW of electricity and 70 tons/hour of steam capacity. The plant, operating on natural gas, aims to provide energy to soybean oil production facilities and industrial plants in the vicinity in Ashdod and Ashkelon, Israel.

Turkey provides steel to the arms industry in Israel

One of the areas where close economic cooperation is established with Israel is steel export. Israel is among the countries that receive the highest amount of steel exports from Turkey. Turkey provides 65% of Israel's steel needs.

İÇDAŞ is among the leading companies exporting steel to Israel. Adnan Aslan, a member of İÇDAŞ Board of Directors, also serves as the President of the Board of Directors of the Steel Exporters' Association.

 Steel is a crucial raw material for the arms and defense industries.

Karakol ve donanma binası milliyetçi iş insanından

The owner of Yılmazlar Construction Company, known for constructing numerous hotels, shopping malls, energy plants, and hospitals in Israel, is Ahmet Reyiz Yılmaz, a well-known figure in Turkish politics.

Yılmaz, who ran against Devlet Bahçeli in the 2009 congress of the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) had said here, "Revealing whether the candidate for the MHP leadership has a Turkish lineage is a prerequisite. On this occasion, anyone aspiring to lead the Turks comes forward and reveals whether they are of Turkish descent for at least seven generations, or if there is another element." But he later decided to establish his own party.

Yılmaz, who once supported Abdüllatif Şener, claimed during this period that some TV channels in Turkey were controlled by Jews and that the U.S.-Israel axis used these channels for propaganda to keep them out of Parliament.

Yılmaz leads the Conservative Rise Party. Yılmazlar Construction, which operated in the construction sector in Israel for many years, has been involved in various projects, including the Ashdod police station, Haifa naval building, Tel Aviv courthouse, police academy in Beit Shemesh with classrooms, sports halls, and a stadium, Orot Rabin power plant, Ben Gurion Airport observation tower, Tabariya Lake water treatment facility, and Manhattan Tower.

After maintaining a strong relationship with Israel for an extended period, Ahmet Reyiz Yılmaz faced a sudden embargo when he criticized Israel and the US with the slogan "Rise up, Turkey, Ahmet Reyiz is coming" in rallies for his party. Yılmazlar Construction, facing a visa embargo for its employees, was also asked to leave Israel. (Mİ/PE)