Turkey Pakistan Friendship Impact: What big statement has the Turkish Foreign Minister given regarding patch-up with India? How much has friendship with Pakistan and India’s displeasure cost the Turkish government? How big a blow has the Erdogan government faced due to India’s distancing?
Turkey India Relations: It is said that when you choose the wrong partner in business and friendship, losses are certain. Something similar is currently happening with our neighboring country Pakistan’s best friend i.e. Turkey. Türkiye, which once agreed with Pakistan on the issue of Kashmir and made diplomatic moves against India, has suddenly come to its knees today. A recent statement has come from Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan, in which he is clearly saying, ‘We want good relations with India, Pakistan should not come among us.’ After all, what changed in just one year that Türkiye’s attitude cooled down? The biggest and real reason for this is the power of Indian tourists and a huge investment of 400 million dollars! Let us know how India’s displeasure shook Türkiye’s tourism industry?
Türkiye’s deceit in return for India’s help
The matter is not very old. In the year 2023, when there was a severe earthquake in Türkiye, India, fulfilling its duty of humanity, was the first to extend a helping hand in that hour of crisis. Under ‘Operation Dost’, India opened field hospitals there, sent medicines and relief material. At that time the eyes of the Turkish people were moist and they were praying for the Indians. But the Erdogan government there very quickly forgot this favour. When India took strict steps for its security, Turkey instead of supporting India started supplying drones and weapons to Pakistan. Even on international forums, he always sang the praises of Pakistan. India had understood that this ‘disloyalty’ would have to be answered not with guns but with silent diplomacy.
When Indians turned their backs, Türkiye’s luxurious resorts became deserted.
The Turkish government, immersed in the prism of religion and Pakistan, had no idea that the key to their economy lay largely in Indian pockets. The middle class and rich sections of India used to go to Türkiye in large numbers every year for holidays and weddings. As soon as Türkiye’s hypocrisy was exposed, Indian tourists themselves started staying away from Türkiye. The Indian rich people who used to make Turkish hotels rich by spending crores of rupees on their weddings, canceled their bookings.
How much loss will Türkiye suffer due to Indians not going?
According to government data, while more than 3.3 lakh Indians visited Turkey in the year 2024, in the next year i.e. 2025 this number came down to only around 2.5 lakh. That means a huge decline of 24.24% was recorded directly. Due to this strong boycott of Indian tourists and weddings, Türkiye and its partner countries had to suffer a direct loss of about 400 million US dollars. By the beginning of 2025 i.e. by the month of March, the number of Indians going to Türkiye was increasing. But as soon as Turkey openly supported Pakistan against India, Indians started canceling their tickets and the graph fell drastically.
If seats on flights are reduced, the problem will increase further.
The troubles for Türkiye are not ending here. The big Boeing (B777) aircraft that India’s leading airline company IndiGo had leased from Turkish Airlines are also about to return. Smaller aircraft (XLR) will fly in their place. This simply means that the number of seats on flights from India to Turkey will be greatly reduced. When seats become scarce, it will become more difficult for tourists to visit, which is going to deal an even bigger blow to Türkiye’s remaining tourism market.
Will the Erdogan government really go bankrupt?
Now the question comes whether Türkiye will be completely ruined without India? If we look at the statistics, a large number of international tourists come to Türkiye from Russia, Germany and Britain. The share of Indians in total foreign tourists is around 1%. The spending power (ability to spend money) of Indian tourists is very high. Indians not only go there for sightseeing, but also hold expensive weddings in luxurious hotels, go shopping and spend a lot of foreign currency. When this premium business comes to a halt, the backs of hotels, ground handling agencies and local markets break. This blow of 400 million dollars has become a big canker for an already weak economy like Türkiye. This is the reason why now their Foreign Minister is making statements to patch-up with India.