800 Gujaratis cancel Turkey trip over Pakistan support: ‘We can do this much for our country'

Hindustan Times

15-05-2025

More than 800 members of the Jain Lotus Group in Ahmedabad, Gujarat, have cancelled their post-Diwali travel plans to Turkey, citing the country's recent show of support for Pakistan. According to a report in Mid-Day, the group had planned a 12-day trip, which now stands cancelled.
The Jain Lotus Group is among a growing number of Indian travellers who are scrapping trips to Turkey and Azerbaijan in protest. Both countries publicly backed Pakistan following heightened tensions between India and Pakistan in the wake of Operation Sindoor and the April 22 terror attack in Pahalgam.
While Azerbaijan released an official statement echoing Pakistan's position on the conflict, Turkey supported Islamabad's call for an international investigation into the Pahalgam attack. Turkey has also previously supplied arms to Pakistan.
"Bookings for Azerbaijan and Turkey decreasing by 60% (over the last week) while cancellations have surged by 250% during the same period," Reuters quoted a spokesperson for MakeMyTrip, as saying.
The Jain Lotus Group is an Ahmedabad-based organisation which counts over 1,000 couples as its members. According to the Mid-Day report, the group members had planned to visit Turkey after Diwali.
Jain Lotus Group Treasurer Vipul Shah told Mid-Day that the decision was taken on moral grounds.
'We have canceled the trip due to this. About 800 people from our Jain Lotus Group were to go to Turkey after Diwali. We had planned a tour of 12 days and 11 nights. We had decided to go to four places in Turkey, including Cappadocia and Istanbul.
'All the members had planned to reach Turkey in groups of 80 people every third day, not on the same day,' Shah explained.
'However, considering the current situation between India and Pakistan, the core committee, including our president and joint secretary, took everyone's individual opinions and the committee jointly decided that we would not go to Turkey to tour, a country that supports our country's enemy, Pakistan,' said the treasurer.
Shah added that this is the least that they could do for India. 'We cannot go to war as an army, but we can do this much in support of the country, right?' he said.