Activists protest against Turkey over its support for Pakistan during fighting with India, in New Delhi on Friday. © Getty Images
MUMBAI — Court cases involving the Indian government and Turkish ground and cargo handling company Celebi have thrown the spotlight on the use of national security justifications to terminate contracts, amid a wider boycott of Turkish goods over Ankara’s support for Islamabad during the fighting between India and Pakistan earlier this month.
The Indian government revoked the security clearance of Celebi last week, arguing at a Delhi High Court hearing on Thursday that it did not have to provide a warning or reasoning when it revoked the clearance. Faced with an “unprecedented situation” involving national security, it was not possible to give advance notice, a lawyer for the government said.
The previous day, Celebi had argued it had no connection to the Turkish government and stressed the impact of the decision on jobs. A subsidiary of the company also filed petitions with the high court in Mumbai on Thursday evening over the local airport’s termination of its contract, saying the decision was arbitrary and illegal, local media reported.
The hearing in Delhi is scheduled to continue on Friday.
The Celebi cases come as an increasing number of Indian entities boycott Turkish goods and services.
The conflict — launched by India over allegations that Pakistan supported terror attacks in Kashmir, which Islamabad has denied — saw the deployment of Turkish weapon systems, including attack drones, by Pakistan.
One of India’s largest bodies of goods distributors on Monday said it would enforce an “indefinite boycott” of Turkish consumer products “in response to Turkey’s support for Pakistan.”
The All India Consumer Products Distributors Federation, which represents over 450,000 distributors of goods to retailers, said it would boycott the sale of Turkish chocolates and cosmetics.
Last week, another trade body, the Confederation of All India Traders, said it would boycott “all forms of trade and commercial engagement” with Turkey and Azerbaijan, which also released a statement in support of Pakistan during the conflict.
“The collective Indian trading community views this [support for Pakistan] as a betrayal, particularly considering the humanitarian and diplomatic support extended to both these countries in the past by India,” the trade body said in a statement.
India sent humanitarian relief, including medical teams, after a major earthquake hit Turkey in 2023.
India’s imports from Turkey in the 11 months through February were worth $2.84 billion, the Indian ministry of external affairs said last week, while exports to Turkey totaled $5.2 billion.
Individual companies and consumers have also joined the protests. Travel bookings to Azerbaijan and Turkey fell 60% at major travel agency MakeMyTrip over the span of a week, local media reported, while cancellations jumped by 250%. The agency’s landing page has an advisory declaring no promotions and offers on travel to the two nations.
“Over 2.87 lakh (287,000) Indian tourists visited Turkey [in 2023]. … By consciously redirecting tourism flow, we reduce economic support to countries taking anti-India positions,” Nishant Pitti, founder of another major travel agency, EaseMyTrip, said in a post on X on May 14.
Meanwhile, online commerce platforms such as Walmart-owned Myntra, Reliance Ajio and Tata Cliq have taken down listings of Turkish brands like Trendyol, Koton and LC Waikiki, a review of the platforms showed.
On Monday, the chief minister of the northern Indian state of Himachal Pradesh — a major apple grower — said he would urge the federal government to ban the import of apples from Turkey.
The article appeared in the asia.nikkei