Turkey’s complicity in global terror networks does not begin or end with Pakistan. It was in full display in the recent regional crises.
In retaliation against cross-border terror originating from Pakistan, India’s Operation Sindoor did a lot more than just take out hideouts of terrorists—it exposed a web of technical, ideological, diplomatic, and disturbingly, transnational collaborations. One of the central collaborators emerging from this exposure is Turkey under President Erdogan’s ambitions of becoming a neo-imperial and neo-Ottoman sultan in the 21st century. The Turkish role in revamping Pakistan’s drone capabilities, particularly the induction of Bayraktar drones was critical for Pakistan. More than just surveillance drones, Bayraktar, in the hands of Pakistan’s military-jihadi complex, have turned into tools of asymmetric warfare by facilitating infiltration and pushing the boundaries of the existing proxy war between India and its neighbour.
As the facts and allegations of Turkish involvement have emerged in recent days, followed by Turkey’s unyielding diplomatic and political support to Pakistan, Indian firms, companies, trade unions, academic institutions and private players have chosen to boycott Turkey and its products and services. For woke liberals, such moves are nothing but fearmongering, but to those seeking dignity and accountability after the horrendous Pahalgam terrorist attack, this is a reflection of our choices and actions that may be playing out in the hands of questionable regimes like Erdogan’s Turkey. Therefore, one needs to look into and explore further the Turkish-Pakistan alliance while juxtaposing it against the interests of India and Indians.
TURKISH ENTRENCHMENT IN INDIA
One of the popular Turkish aviation companies known as Celebi Aviation entered India in 2008, curiously, just months after the Mumbai terror attacks in November. This Turkish firm developed a partnership with NAS India to form a joint venture named Celebi NAS Airport Services India Pvt Ltd during the UPA administration, which, among other things, gained a ten-year contract to operate in India. Since then, Celebi has spread across Delhi, Mumbai, Hyderabad, Bengaluru, Chennai, Goa, Ahmedabad, and Kannur with over 7,800 staff strength. But let’s look at this beyond employment and focus on the element of proximity. Celebi operated and had access to technical cargo zones at major airports, including the Indira Gandhi International Airport in Delhi. With its cargo division called Celebi Delhi Cargo Terminal Management India Pvt Ltd, the company had visual overlooking access to areas that are of strategic national security concern, including the hanger bays used by Air India One (used by the Indian President, Vice-President, and the Prime Minister) as well as various wings of military aircraft hangers.
This is not necessary to be alarming in normal circumstances, but when a company linked to President Erdogan—who himself actively backs Pakistan on international platforms—operates in such high-value spaces, should India not reassess? After all, Turkey has not merely issued moral support for Islamabad but has defended it tooth and nail at every multilateral platform as it could. Be it the false narratives on Kashmir or internal issues of India, Turkey seems boldly standing against India. Over the years, its deeper defence ties, including military training, personnel exchanges, and joint drills with Pakistan, are then to be seen as actualisation of its diplomatic support. As such, when a terror-supporting state embeds itself within India’s aviation infrastructure, is it not fair to rethink and call out such duplicitous behaviour?
ERDOGAN’S NEO-OTTOMAN AMBITIONS
Turkey’s complicity in global terror networks does not begin or end with Pakistan. It was in full display in the recent regional crises, be it in Syria, Iraq, or the Turkish profiteering during the ISIS rule in the Middle East. However, the complicity need not be direct, it can also be indirect and implicitly subverting. Over the last decade, the Turkish smuggling through the black-market network supposedly helped fund jihadist operations that were protected by Turkmen militias and local proxies. Even the US Treasury flagged Turkey’s failure to clamp down on the financial networks linked to al-Qaeda and other Islamist militias. Moreover, in 2015, multiple reports from Russian and Western intelligence sources pointed fingers at Erdogan’s son, Bilal Erdogan, as a key player in oil smuggling routes from ISIS-controlled Syria into Turkey.
This is the same Turkey that allowed its borders to become highways for jihadists from Chechnya, Germany, Libya, and Pakistan, crossing into Syria with ease, often under the gaze of Turkish border officials. Weapons, logistics, fighters, and money all flowed, sometimes into Europe. The scope was such that groups like Jabhat al-Nusra and Hayat Tahrir al-Sham thrived under Turkish “watch.” Erdogan’s ambition to carve out “safe zones” in northern Syria was not just humanitarian policy (as it was publicised). Instead, it represented an effort to shield his Islamist allies while violently suppressing Kurdish groups and consolidating influence in the region.
WHAT SHOULD INDIA DO NOW?
So far, India’s response has been cautious. A few murmurs about “reviewing” contracts, including JNU’s trailblazing announcement: “Due to National Security considerations, the MoU between JNU and Inonu University, Türkiye stands suspended until further notice.” JNU stands with the nation. The “reassessing” of Celebi’s presence has also led to revoking its security clearance and cancelling its license to operate, which, in all fairness, is a welcome move by the government. The clock is ticking as far as the Turkish Airlines continues code-sharing with the largest airline Indigo, mainly through an agreement that opened Indian skies to over 30 destinations via Istanbul. The agreement due expiration on 31 May was requested for a six-month extension by Indigo, but the government has only extended it for three months, citing the need to avoid “passenger inconvenience.”
Yes, these deals bring in revenue. Yes, they generate jobs. But at what cost? Can a few thousand jobs justify strategic exposure? Can tax revenue justify empowering a country that funds our enemies? Can economic logic override national interest? The #BoycottTurkey campaign gaining such steam among Indian traders and civil society isn’t simply reactionary but a rather rational response.
RED LINES WE NEED TO DRAW
Erdogan wants to be remembered not as a modern democrat but as a revivalist sultan by wielding religion, drones, and diplomacy as tools of leverage. And Pakistan is his eager vassal, which is all ready to accept support, weapons, and ideology, as long as it helps fuel its 75-year-old obsession with “bleeding India with a thousand cuts”. Meanwhile, Indian hesitation to balance economic calculations with diplomatic caution must be reassessed since hesitation is no longer an option in Amrit Kaal. For India, the facts about the unfolding global order where power is sentient must not be ambiguous. India has to draw new red line and be responsible and abashed about preserving the national interest while upholding civilisational values. Erdogan may not have directly intervened in Pakistan’s misadventures, but it surely has his fingerprints on it. Indian policy should align national security with normative foreign policy posture. Nobody, be it Pakistan or Turkey, no one should get a pass to carry on with any the anti-India agenda without knowing that there is a cost to harming Indian interests.
* Prof Santishree Dhulipudi Pandit is the Vice Chancellor of JNU.
