In her first public comments since India revoked the security clearance of Turkish aviation services firm Celebi in May last year, Chairperson Canan Celebioglu has spoken of her profound pain: nearly US$500 million in business value and 17 years of hard work were wiped out “in a single day.”
New Delhi stripped Celebi of its security clearance days after India and Pakistan fought a brief four-day war in May 2025.
Turkey not only provided diplomatic support to Pakistan during the military conflict, but its drones were also used by Islamabad to attack Indian territory.
The diplomatic and military support that Turkey provided to Pakistan became the last straw in the bumpy India-Turkish relationship, which was already under stress due to Ankara’s raising of the Kashmir issue on international platforms, including in the UN, that India saw as interference in its internal affairs.
Following the brief war, Indian merchant guilds publicly pledged to boycott Turkish imports, dozens of business contracts and planned joint ventures were canceled, and a widespread social media campaign urged Indian tourists to avoid traveling to Turkey.
Celebi might be the most visible face of this falling out; however, it is by no means the only Turkish firm that is suffering economic pain due to Ankara’s support of Pakistan.
In fact, many Turkish companies are paying through the nose for the government’s decision to side with Islamabad in South Asian geopolitics.
Turkish Support To Pakistan During Operation Sindoor
During Operation Sindoor, Pakistan launched over 350 Turkish drones on India.
Pakistan has reportedly used Bayraktar TB2 and YIHA drones against India. The drones are believed to be used for target designation, and potentially kamikaze strikes, especially to threaten forward Indian positions or supply convoys.
Most of these drones were shot down by India, but it did reveal the close military cooperation between Ankara and Islamabad.
Furthermore, after a few days, reports emerged that Turkey even sent its military operatives to help the Pakistan Army coordinate drone attacks on India after Operation Sindoor.
In fact, two Turkish military operatives were also reportedly killed in Pakistan in Indian strikes.
Furthermore, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan condemned India’s military action and publicly expressed solidarity with Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif.
This diplomatic conflict soon spilled into the economic sphere, and Turkish aviation services firm Celebi became one of the first casualties of this economic warfare.
Celebi Kicked Out of India
India’s Bureau of Civil Aviation Security (BCAS) withdrew the security clearances of Celebi’s Indian subsidiaries on May 15, 2025, less than a week after New Delhi and Islamabad agreed on a ceasefire on May 10.
Celebi Airport Services was operating ground handling services at nine airports in India, including Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Chennai, Goa, Kochi, and Kannur.
“Recognizing the seriousness of the issue and the call to protect national interests, we have taken cognizance of these requests and the Ministry of Civil Aviation has revoked security clearance of the said company,” Murlidhar Mohol, India’s deputy civil aviation minister, said on X.
Subsequently, Indian airport operators terminated contracts with Celebi and reassigned operations to alternative service providers.
Celebi challenged the government’s decision before the Delhi High Court. It argued that its permits had been renewed for five years in November 2022, following security reviews, and that it had operated in India for 17 years without any recorded security violations.
The Indian government argued that airport ground operators have detailed access to the physical infrastructure and passenger details, including VIP movements, and there are genuine national security concerns about spying and the possible dual use of logistics infrastructure during periods of external conflict.
The Delhi High Court dismissed the challenge after examining confidential material submitted by the government.
US$500 Million Business Value Wiped in “A Single Day”
Canan Çelebioğlu, Chairwoman of Çelebi Holding, spoke for the first time about the cancellation of her company’s license.
Speaking to Bloomberg HT, she described the events that followed the Indian government’s May 15, 2025, decision.
Turkish businesswoman Canan Çelebioğlu:
We entered India and became the largest ground handling company there.
I was obsessed with India — I called it my second country.
Last year, around May 15th, the Indian government shut us down.
They seized all our equipment,… pic.twitter.com/leYcgiiIn3
— Clash Report (@clashreport) June 15, 2026
The chairwoman said that the operations in India were terminated by a government decision and that approximately 10,000 employees were transferred to other companies in a single day. She added that the US$400-500 million in value created over the years had vanished in an instant.
“We entered India and became the largest ground handling company there. I was obsessed with India — I called it my second country,” she said.
“Last year, around May 15th, the Indian government shut us down. They seized all our equipment, transferred 10,000 employees to another company in a single day, and wiped out a value we had built of perhaps $400–500 million. Gone in one day.”
“Put the financial loss aside. That place was built stitch by stitch. We spent years pushing the government to change policies, to develop the sector.
“And I loved India. That’s what made it so shocking. It truly devastated us.”
Notably, India accounted for roughly one-third of Çelebi Aviation’s global revenue.
Çelebioğlu’s comments illustrate how private businesses have become collateral damage as geopolitical tensions between India and Turkey spilled over into the economic realm last May.
Celebi might be the most visible face of this tragedy, but it is by no means the only Turkish firm to have suffered because of Erdogan’s decision to back Pakistan – a country standing on the verge of economic bankruptcy, which is staying afloat only because of periodic bailout packages by the IMF, China, and Gulf countries – over India, already the world’s fourth-largest economy and the fastest growing major economy for many years now.
Turkish Firms That Faced The Burnt Of Erdogan’s Pakistan Love
Following the India-Pakistan war in May, 2025, another Turkish firm that lost lucrative Indian contracts was Asis Elektronik, linked to Asis Guard.
Contracts for Automatic Fare Collection (AFC) systems in the Bhopal and Indore Metro projects, valued at around US$27 million, which were previously awarded to Asisguard, were canceled and re-awarded to other companies.
Another Turkish construction company, Gulermak, which was involved in the Surat metro rail project, came under scrutiny, and its projects were reviewed.
A June 6, 2025, official memorandum by the Ministry of Home Affairs called for “review of the metro projects and revoke/ cancel any form of contract/ agreement involving Turkish companies ASIS Elektronik Ve Billiseri Sistemleri and Gulemak Agir Sanayi Insaat Ve Taahhut AS JV on grounds of national security.”
Gulermak also exited from the Lucknow Metro Rail project.
Similarly, Indian carrier Indigo terminated its dry-lease and aircraft-sharing agreement with Turkish Airlines.
In May, Indigo applied for a six-month extension of its agreement with Turkish Airlines; however, the Indian government only granted a three-month extension, and clarified that this was a “one-time last and final” extension, taking an undertaking by Indigo that it will terminate its contract with Turkish Airlines by August 31, 2025.
Even before the May 2025 conflict, India had terminated a US$2 billion shipbuilding consultancy agreement with Turkey’s Anadolu Shipyard. The deal involved constructing five Fleet Support Ships for the Indian Navy at Hindustan Shipyard in India, with technology and engineering support from Anadolu.
“Officially, India cited its policy to boost local shipbuilding capacity as the reason for the termination, but it is widely believed that India’s discomfort with Turkey’s close ties to Pakistan played a significant role,” Tara Kartha, a former member of India’s National Security Council Secretariat, told DW.
Similarly, in 2022, Turkey’s Ilker Ayci had to decline the position of CEO of Air India after his appointment sparked an uproar in India over his previous political ties to President Erdogan.
Tourism to Turkey from India also dropped significantly.
According to official data, only 24,250 Indian tourists visited Turkey in June 2025, a 36% drop from 38,307 in June 2024.
Similarly, over two lakh Indian tourists visited Turkey between June and December 2024 – 2.05 lakh to be precise. However, this number fell to about 1.35 lakh in the same months in 2025, registering a 34 percent drop.
These are just some of the examples of how President Erdogan’s political decision to choose Pakistan over India is causing significant losses to Turkish firms that were doing business in India.
However, there are also other costs to Turkey.
For instance, India has significantly deepened its defense partnerships with Armenia, Greece, Cyprus, and Israel — all of which maintain adversarial relations with Ankara.
India is already Armenia’s largest defense partner.
Also, India is working on two international trade routes – I2U2 (India, Israel, the US, and the UAE) and India-Middle East-Europe Economic Corridor (IMEC) – that pass through the Middle East and completely bypass Turkey.
India’s GDP is more than 10 times Pakistan’s, and it is the world’s fastest-growing major economy.
Similarly, in 2024, India-Turkey bilateral trade, at US$8.5 billion, was more than seven times Pakistan-Turkey bilateral trade (US$1.3 billion).
The obvious question is, why is Erdogan betting on the wrong horse?
- This is an Opinion Article
- Sumit Ahlawat has over a decade of experience in news media. He has worked with Press Trust of India, Times Now, Zee News, Economic Times, and Microsoft News. He holds a Master’s Degree in International Media and Modern History from the University of Sheffield, UK.
- He can be reached at ahlawat.sumit85 (at) gmail.com
