Manas Dasgupta
NEW DELHI, May 14: Like Mohamed Muizzu, the Maldivian president, his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdoğan may also soon feel the heat of India’s boycott of country for tours and travels and even in trade relations and may have to pay dearly for giving support with arms to Pakistan during the “Operation Sindoor,” India’s fight against terrorism.
Even before the “boycott Turkey and Azerbaijan” became loud for supporting Pakistan during the tension with India, MakeMyTrip (MMT), one of the major travel portals, has seen a 250% rise in cancellations, along with a 60% drop in bookings to Azerbaijan and Turkey during the past week.
“In solidarity with our nation and out of deep respect for our armed forces, we strongly support this sentiment and advise all against all non-essential travel to Azerbaijan and Turkey. We have already discontinued all promotions and offers on our platform to discourage tourism to these two destinations,” said MMT spokesperson.
The two countries had criticised India’s strike on terror infrastructure in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied-Kashmir on May 7. Islamabad also used innumerable Turkish drones in the conflict.
Three hashtags — #BoycottTurkey, #BoycottAzerbaijan and #BoycottTurkeyAzerjbaijan — were trending in India since Monday.
Prashant Pitti, co-founder, EaseMyTrip, said, “It is our responsibility. We were the first to issue a travel advisory on avoiding travel to Turkey. At least 22% of our tickets to Turkey and 33% to Azerbaijan have been cancelled…These numbers are going to increase. This could be the beginning for Turkey as Indian tourism will go down drastically.”
Echoing the sentiment, Subhash Goyal, chairman of The Indian Chamber of Commerce’s Tourism Committee, the expert committee on aviation and tourism, stated that all tourism associations stand firmly with the nation and the Indian Armed Forces. According to the committee, tourism to these two countries could see a 50-60% decline. The committee also cited security risks for Indian travellers and urged the Government of India to issue a travel advisory for Turkey and Azerbaijan.
“Turkey has blood on its hands,” officials said adding that it was up to people to decide if they want to visit it for travel. “There is no advisory from the government to tour operators. We leave it to them. What we gather, most travel platforms have seen a fall in bookings to that sector.”
A letter, reportedly from Türkiye’s department of tourism, has gone viral on X. In the letter, Türkiye urged Indian tourists not to cancel or postpone their travel plans, assuring that there are no restrictions or safety concerns for Indian travellers.
IndiGo airlines has come under fire for continuing its codeshare agreement with Turkish Airlines. Not just travel, the boycott call has spread to Turkish goods too. The Delhi Chamber of Trade and Industry (CTI) on Monday launched a protest campaign urging a complete boycott of goods imported from China and Turkey.
Earlier, traders from Uttar Pradesh and Pune joined took to the streets and began pulling Turkish produce—mostly apples —off the shelves. Udaipur traders have also decided to stop use of Turkish marble. The Shiv Sena has also called for immediate termination of a Turkish ground-handling company’s contract at Mumbai’s international airport.
In a significant development, the Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) has announced the suspension of its Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Inonu University in Turkey, citing national security considerations. The decision comes as part of the university’s adherence to the government’s stance on national security and geopolitical sensitivities.
“Due to National Security considerations, the MoU between JNU and Inonu University, Türkiye stands suspended until further notice. JNU stands with the Nation,” the University said in a post on X. The cancellation of the MoU comes amid calls from several quarters of Indian society and industry bodies to sever diplomatic, trade and people-to-people ties with Turkey and Azerbaijan for their support to Pakistan via arms.
JNU, renowned for its strong academic programmes and diverse student body, has long been an institution engaged in international collaborations with universities worldwide. These collaborations often focus on research, faculty exchange programmes, and student mobility. The university has maintained partnerships with universities across various continents, promoting global academic dialogue and fostering international ties.
In January 2024, Maldives faced a similar heat after its left-leaning president criticised India and took his country close to China. In a tourist spot where Indians constitute a major market, with over 2.91 lakh and 2.41 lakh Indian tourist arrivals in 2021 and 2022 during the peak of Covid-19, Maldives got a rude shock. It took a lot of backchannel cajoling at the highest level for India to finally consider going back to business as normal. But, in between, Maldives’ economy sunk.
Indians lost no time in asking for a complete boycott of Turkey and Azerbaijan—the two countries that extended their support to Pakistan. But since the central Asian nation is yet not that popular as Turkey is, ‘Boycott Turkey’ started to trend nationally. Senior Indian politicians, including opposition faces who otherwise wouldn’t leave a chance to corner Prime Minister Narendra Modi, jumped in to attack Turkey. Former Union minister and Congress leader Rajeev Shukla asked to “immediately stop” Indians’ destination weddings in Turkey. Shiv Sena (Uddhav) MP Priyanka Chaturvedi called vacationing in Turkey “blood money.” In 2023, nearly 2.75 lakh Indian tourists visited Turkey, and the number rose by over 20 per cent to 3.25 lakh in 2024.
Platforms like Ixigo & EaseMyTrip pulled the plug on Turkey bookings. The ire is not just restricted to tourism, but slowly turning to produce as well. Turkish apples have suddenly vanished from markets after Indian traders switched their loyalties to Iran, Washington, and New Zealand to cater to those who prefer international qualities.
“We used to sell 1,000 boxes of apples for retailers previously. But that has rapidly decreased. We were wondering why. When we asked the retailers, they said the customers were not buying Turkish apples anymore,” said an apple wholesaler.
The apple growers’ association, who anyway believe the market has been hit hard by imported apples, have now said Turkish apples should be banned. Turkish apples are extremely popular and of high quality and enjoy a 6-8 per cent share in the market of the total imported varieties. Around 1,60,000 tonnes of apples were imported from Turkey this fiscal year.
Government sources say Turkey needs India more—for pulses, oil seeds, steel—than the other way around. India had planned to increase trade with Turkey up to $20 Billion. However, with changed realities, sources in the government suggest that India will cut trade ties with Turkey as it cannot negotiate with anyone who supports a terror state.
