Intense reactions is causing to India the support provided by Anchor toward Pakistan in his case Cashmere. Many Indians call on Turkey’s boycott. About three weeks ago, the conflict between India and Pakistan began, with the Indian government accusing the neighboring country of cross -border terrorism starting its territory and the Pakistani part of Kashmir. The occasion was an armed attack on civilians at the Pachalgam resort, in the Indian part of Kashmir, which left 26 dead, most of whom were Indian tourists.

The Kashmir mountain region has remained divided between India and Pakistan since 1947, when the two countries gained their independence. Both are claiming the area as a whole, to this day. For the latest long attack, New Delhi accuses the Islamist organization Laskar-E-Taimpa, even considering that the organization is supported by the Islamabad government, but denies any involvement. Soon Turkey, as well as Azerbaijan, rushed to declare their support for Pakistan.

A blow to trade and tourism

After all, popular rage broke out in India, with hastags like #boycott_turkey flooding social media. This is not negligible sizes. In 2024, 274,000 tourists from India had visited Turkey. This year’s bookings are reduced by 60%, while cancellations increase by 250%. Popular travel platforms, such as Easemytrip, Makemytrip and IXIGO, stop promoting Turkey as a travel destination. “Every hard worker who travels abroad for tourism realizes that it should not give the enemies of our homeland the money that has been so troubled,” says Popular Party (BJP) President Rajiv Cantrascar.

The India Ministry of Air Force, citing “security reasons”, revoked the license for the Turkish company Celebi, which had undertaken ground services at many airports in the country. Now Celebi is moving legally to overthrow that decision.

At the same time, many importers put a “brake” on products from Turkey. At a recent event of the All India Traders Trade Federation, more than 125 importers have agreed to boycott trade agreements with Turkey and Azerbaijan. Even university institutions, such as the Indian Institute of Technology, cancel cooperation plans with corresponding institutions in Turkey.

Criticism for Erdogan Policy

For a long time, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has supported a “multilateral” solution to the Kashmir issue, something that the Indian side was always rejected. Erdogan has repeatedly visited Pakistan. His last visit was just last February, with the Turkish president accompanied by a large delegation and seeking to tighten bilateral relations in the commercial and defense sector.

Prassanda Kumar Prandnan, a researcher at the West Asian Center of the Manohar Parrikar Institute in New Delhi, points out to DW that it would require time to re -establish India and Turkey. For the time being, he estimates, the boycott to Turkey has a “limited impact”, but if maintained for a longer period “it could cause more negative consequences on the two countries’ relations.”

From April 2024 to February 2025, India had exported to Turkey products totaling $ 5.2 billion (electrical and mechanical equipment, petroleum, vehicle spare parts, medicines, fabrics), and had imported goods worth 2.84 billion,

Even before the new Kashmir dispute arose, India had canceled two billion dollars agreement with Turkish Anadolu Shipyard, which would provide know -how to build Indian Navy Shipyards in Indian Navy ships. The official etiology was “the policy to support the domestic defense industry”, but as the Taras card, a former member of the Indian National Security Council, points out on DW, “many believe that the decision had contributed to the fact that India was disadvantaged by Turkey’s close ties.”

A relatively optimistic, however, appears by Sanai Batakariya, a former ambassador of India to Ankara. As he himself points out on DW, India should think “smart and strategically”, giving priority to the national interest. “I believe that things will calm down in time, that eventually both sides will be prudent,” the Indian diplomat points out.

Curated by: Yiannis Papadimitriou