Greta Thunberg calls on Turkey at COP31: 'Stop oil shipments to Israel'

Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg called for a halt to oil shipments from Turkey to Israel at the COP31 climate summit in Antalya. Taking the microphone at a press conference she held together with activists from Nepal, Australia, Palestine and Canada, Thunberg said the shipments "directly feed the genocide in Palestine" and appealed to Ankara: "Stop oil and energy shipments to Israel from your own territory!"

President Tayyip Erdoğan, who delivered the summit's opening speech immediately before Thunberg, said Gaza was exposed to "not only a genocide but also an ecocide" and called for humanitarian aid to be delivered to Gaza, which the war has reduced to rubble. Minister of Environment, Urbanization and Climate Change and COP31 President Murat Kurum had announced earlier in the week that Turkey did not invite Israeli leaders to the summit on the grounds of the massacre in Gaza.

According to a new report relayed by Middle East Eye (MEE), despite the trade embargo Ankara imposed on Israel, 77 crude oil shipments were made from ports in Turkey to Israel over the past two years. According to MEE, Turkey is the target of criticism because Azerbaijani oil arriving through the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan (BTC) pipeline is sent to Israel from Ceyhan Port. The campaign group Energy Embargo for Palestine (EEFP) described the situation as "a disturbing contradiction" and questioned whether a government could present itself as a climate leader while being "an indispensable link in the supply chain providing oil" to Israel, which is committing genocide against Palestinians.

According to a joint report prepared by EEFP, the Palestinian Youth Movement and the Progressive International on September 3, 77 crude oil shipments totaling approximately 6.5 million tons were made from Ceyhan Port to Israel between May 2024 and June 2025. Ankara had announced in May 2024 that it would impose a trade embargo on Israel. According to research published by the same groups in January, 57 shipments of Azerbaijani crude oil were made from Turkish ports to Israeli ports between May 2024 and December 2025.

According to the report, the shipments were carried out covertly; so that they would not be detected, the vessels' destinations were misreported and tracking systems were switched off. The researchers traced the voyages with satellite imagery and ship tracking data and confirmed that the vessels docked in Israel. According to the researchers, oil leaving Turkish ports via the BTC pipeline accounted for more than 40 percent of Israel's total oil imports "throughout the Gaza genocide." The report claims that this oil was refined and used as fuel in Israel's warplanes, tanks and military vehicles.

Turkey maintains that it does not determine to whom the oil transported through the BTC pipeline is sold. The pipeline's operation in Turkey is run by the state-owned Petroleum Pipeline Corporation (BOTAŞ), but the oil belongs to Azerbaijan's state oil company SOCAR. Energy and Natural Resources Minister Alparslan Bayraktar stated in November 2024 that exporters using the Ceyhan line "comply with Turkey's decision to end trade with Israel" and that no oil was loaded onto vessels whose destination was declared as Israel.

Data from the ship tracking company Kpler, relayed by Reuters, showed that crude oil exports from Azerbaijan to Israel increased by 31 percent in 2025, rising to their highest level since 2022. Current data show that at least 20 shipments totaling approximately 2.4 million tons were made from Turkey to Israel between December 2, 2025 and June 30, 2026. Diplomatic sources in Turkey, in response to MEE's request for comment, said the BTC pipeline is governed by international agreements and that the project consists of a partnership of 10 companies. The share of the Turkish Petroleum Corporation (TPAO) in this partnership is 6.53 percent. The sources stated that there is no question of selling TPAO's oil to Israel, and stressed that the other companies using the BTC pipeline also comply with Turkey's decision and that no shipment with Israel declared as its destination has been made.