Turkey's Pro-Pakistan Gamble Backfires: Economy Hit, Indian Tourism Plummets 37%
Turkey has been hit hard for supporting Pakistan. Indian tourists visiting Turkey dropped by 37 per cent in June, a month that traditionally sees the highest flow of Indian tourists to Turkey. This follows Indians avoiding the country since its open support for Pakistan came to the fore during Operation Sindoor.
As per official tourism figures from Turkey, only 24,250 Indian tourists visited the country in June, down nearly 37 per cent from the same month last year, when 38,307 Indian tourists had visited. In May, 31,659 Indian tourists went to Turkey, also down from 41,554 Indians who visited in May 2024.
This comes in the backdrop of Turkey's role in aiding Pakistan during Operation Sindoor, which came to light on May 9, when India revealed that Turkish-made drones were used by its neighbour for an attack.
The debris recovered by India showed that these were SONGAR ASISGUARD drones of Turkish origin. This is the first nationally developed armed drone used by the Turkish armed forces.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi, earlier this week, told Parliament that only three of the 193 United Nations member countries favoured Pakistan, while the remaining nations supported India during Operation Sindoor. Modi was referring to Turkey, China, and Azerbaijan—nations that have often stood by Islamabad on the international stage, including at the United Nations and the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC). These three countries had issued statements in favour of Pakistan when Indian armed forces carried out precision strikes in Pakistan.
Turkey's stance prompted boycott calls in India, and travel portals like MakeMyTrip, EaseMyTrip and Cleartrip said they would not promote Turkey tour packages. The impact is slowly but surely beginning to show.
May and June are peak tourism months for Indians going on vacation. The 2025 figures are the worst for June, as the full boycott impact has become visible.
'Indian tourists usually book their vacations much in advance, so the real impact of the drop in tourism is being seen in June," a senior government official told News18.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi recently visited Cyprus en route to Canada for the G7 Summit. This was seen as a major message to Turkey, given that Cyprus has had a long-standing border dispute with it.
PM Modi and the President of Cyprus visited the historic centre of Nicosia, where they were given a guided tour along the United Nations ceasefire line—a symbol of the island's long-standing division. The President also showed Modi the mountainous region in northern Cyprus, which has remained under Turkish occupation since 1974.
India strongly suspects that Turkey supplied drones to Pakistan when a C-130E Hercules Turkish aircraft landed in Karachi on April 28, less than a week after the Pahalgam terrorist attack. On April 30, a high-ranking Turkish military and intelligence delegation, headed by Lt Gen Yasar Kadioglu, visited the Pakistan Air Force headquarters in Islamabad and met the chief of staff.
Even in its stance and statements after the Pahalgam terror strike, the Turkish government under President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has taken a fully pro-Pakistan line. Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Pakistan's Chief of Army Staff, Field Marshal Asim Munir, also visited Turkey to thank Erdoğan for his support during tensions with India over Operation Sindoor.
tags :
Indian tourists Operation Sindoor turkey
view comments
Location :
New Delhi, India, India
First Published:
August 01, 2025, 09:47 IST
News india Turkey's Pro-Pakistan Gamble Backfires: Economy Hit, Indian Tourism Plummets 37% | Exclusive
Disclaimer: Comments reflect users' views, not News18's. Please keep discussions respectful and constructive. Abusive, defamatory, or illegal comments will be removed. News18 may disable any comment at its discretion. By posting, you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
&w=3840&q=100)
Business Standard
a minute ago
- Business Standard
Six months of a Trump Presidency later, India-US ties hit a crossroads
Despite both Trump and Modi getting off to a warm start and a first-mover advantage for India in trade talks, recent developments suggest the going may not be as easy as initially hoped Shreya Nandi New Delhi Listen to This Article Six months ago, when Donald Trump returned to the White House as the 47th President of the United States (US), he made his objective clear: 'Make America Great Again'. As a part of the agenda, the US administration turned to the use of tariffs as a key tool to raise government revenue, boost domestic manufacturing, and create jobs. What also stood out was Trump's apparent closeness with India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Just three weeks after Trump's inauguration, Modi arrived in Washington D.C. for a high profile meeting. Both leaders announced plans to finalise the first tranche of a mutually-beneficial
The Hindu
a minute ago
- The Hindu
Kremlin slams Trump tariff pressure on India over Russian oil as illegal
Russia accused the United States on Tuesday (August 5, 2025) of exerting illegal trade pressure on India after U.S. President Donald Trump threatened again to raise tariffs on India over its purchases of Russian oil. "We hear many statements that are in fact threats, attempts to force countries to cut trade relations with Russia. We do not consider such statements to be legal," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters. "We believe that sovereign countries should have and do have the right to choose their own trading partners, partners for trade and economic cooperation, and to choose for themselves the forms of trade and economic cooperation that are in the interests of a particular country." Mr. Trump has said that from Friday (August 8, 2025) he will impose new sanctions on Russia as well as on countries that buy its energy exports, unless Moscow takes steps to end its 3-1/2 year conflict with Ukraine. Russian President Vladimir Putin has signalled no change in Russia's stance on the war, despite the looming deadline. India has called Mr. Trump's threats "unjustified" and vowed to protect its economic interests, deepening a trade rift between the two major economies. Two Indian government sources told Reuters on the weekend that India will keep purchasing oil from Russia despite Mr. Trump's threats.
Economic Times
a minute ago
- Economic Times
Income Tax dept detected Rs 30,444 cr undisclosed income, conducted 465 surveys in FY25
Synopsis The Income Tax department has been actively working to uncover tax evasion. In fiscal year 2024-25, 465 surveys led to the detection of Rs 30,444 crore in undisclosed income. Searches were conducted on 1,437 groups, resulting in the seizure of assets worth Rs 2,504 crore. These actions demonstrate the government's commitment to tackling financial irregularities. ANI Income tax department The Income Tax department has conducted 465 surveys, leading to detection of undisclosed income of Rs 30,444 crore in the 2024-25 fiscal year, Parliament was informed on Tuesday. Minister of State for Finance Pankaj Chaudhary in a written reply in the Rajya Sabha said whenever any credible information of 'direct tax' evasion comes to its notice, it takes suitable actions, including surveys, search and seizure operations, assessments, to bring to tax, the undisclosed income. During FY25, a total of 465 surveys were conducted, which led to detection of undisclosed income of Rs 30,444 crore. In FY24 and FY23, 737 and 1,245 surveys were conducted by the I-T department and undisclosed income of Rs 37,622 crore and 9,805 crore, respectively, were detected. The total number of groups searched during FY25 stood at 1,437 and assets seized stood at Rs 2,504 crore. In FY24, 1,166 groups were searched leading to total asset seizure of Rs 2,555 crore. In FY23, Rs 1,766 crore assets were seized following searches in 1,437 groups.
