Arms purchases from Israel ‘no longer acceptable,' says Colombian diplomat

ANTALYA

A high-ranking Colombian diplomat said the situation in the Middle East renders arms purchases from Israel “no longer acceptable."

Making the decision was “very difficult,” Francisco J. Coy, Colombia's vice-minister for foreign affairs, told Anadolu in an exclusive interview on the sidelines of the Antalya Diplomacy Forum.

Colombia's President Gustavo Petro suspended Israeli weapons purchases after over 100 people were killed by Israeli gunfire in a scramble for food aid in the Gaza Strip.

Over 30,000 people have been killed in Gaza since Israel began its brutal military onslaught on Oct. 7, 2023.

“The political situation in the Middle East and Gaza is no longer acceptable for us,” Coy said. “President Gustavo Petro personally is very personally committed to assist Palestine in this situation."

“And what happened yesterday were really unacceptable,” he said, referring to Israeli forces’ shelling of a crowd of Palestinians waiting for humanitarian aid south of Gaza City, leaving more than 100 dead and many others injured.

Asked from where Colombia was going to purchase the arms, the vice-minister said there were alternatives, including Türkiye.

“I’m sure our minister of defense will have an alternative to that. I know that there are a lot of countries providing weapons, and security technologies, for example, Türkiye,” he said.

*Writing and contribution by Emre Basaran in Istanbul