New Delhi: The Indo-Pakistan skirmish hasn’t just demoralised Pakistan, but has shown why messing around with India can cost them dearly. After Operation Sindoor, reports showed Pakistan tried to infiltrate into India with Turkish drones at multiple locations, even as Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan called restraint and did not blame anybody in a tweet just after the incident.
Pakistan ile Hindistan arasındaki gerilimin çok sayıda sivilin şehit olduğu füze saldırılarıyla sıcak çatışmaya dönüşmesinden endişe duyuyoruz.
Saldırılarda hayatını kaybeden kardeşlerimize Allah’tan rahmet, kardeş Pakistan halkına ve devletine bir kez daha başsağlığı diliyorum.…
— Recep Tayyip Erdoğan (@RTErdogan) May 8, 2025
Turkey is just one of the few of countries that considers Pakistan an ally, even though Turkey has good diplomatic and commercial relations with India as well.
Social media, public backlash fuels Turkey boycott
After reports confirmed the use of Turkish drones by Pakistan, the hashtag #BoycottTurkey started trending with 21,000 posts to date. The most affected was Turkey’s tourism industry, where about 2,74,000 Indians visited last year to enjoy its European feel and affordable charm.
After the backlash, many Indian families cancelled their trips to that country, along with the big-budget destination weddings scheduled there.
Bookings are down by 60% while cancellations have increased by more than 250%. Leading travel platforms like Ixigo, MakeMyTrip and EaseMyTrip have even stopped accepting bookings and promotions, issuing advisories to restrict non-essential travel instead.
Turkish aviation company Celebi, which operates ground handling operations at major Indian airports, also had its security clearance revoked on the grounds of ‘national security’ by the aviation ministry.
The Cotton Association of India, representing Indian cotton traders, have also asked its members to boycott Turkish businesses. “Turkey’s actions are against our national sovereignty and integrity,” Atul Ganatra, the CAI President, said in a press statement.
Turkish Airlines who has a leasing agreement with IndiGo, India’s largest airline, has also faced backlash, with reports claiming Air India had urged the government not to renew the agreement expiring on May 31.
Reports suggest Turkey has suffered a loss of Rs.770 crore ($92 million) due to cancellations of business deals and bookings.
Response from Turkey
While Turkey hasn’t issued an official response, sources in the tourism ministry are reportedly in “damage control” mode, quietly pushing to regain Indian market trust.
Prof İlter Turan of Istanbul Bilgi University, a Turkish analyst has called Turkey’s decision to back Pakistan an ‘ill-advised decision’, and has urged India not to burn bridges with Turkey.
“Unfortunately, India’s reaction to the ill-considered statements of the Turkish government has not been very encouraging. Turkish air carriers have been prevented from flying to India. Wealthy Indians have already started to cancel weddings they planned to have in Turkey. Some articles in the Indian press call for Turkish businesses in the country to be put under the microscope. When the proposed measures are carefully considered, it can be seen that these will bring no benefit other than causing trouble to the forces in Turkey that want to establish stronger relations with India,” he says.
