Turkish aviation company says it lost Rs 4,700 crore in a day following Operation Sindoor

Chairperson of Turkish aviation services company Celebi says the company lost nearly $500 million (Rs 4,700 crore) in business value overnight after its security clearance was revoked following Operation Sindoor. Ankara supported Pakistan, and Canan Celebioglu said its 17 years of work vanished suddenly. Staff were transferred to competing organisations overnight, and all of the company's investments in India were wiped out. Speaking to Bloomberg HT, she said India's decision of May 2025 was "one of the most painful episodes in the company’s history." She said, "All our equipment, everything we had, was seized, and they removed us from there. They transferred our 10,000 employees to another company in a single day." This was the fallout of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan backing Pakistan in the conflict against India in 2025.

From a $400 million or $500 million valuation, it crashed "to zero in a single day." Following the revocation of Celebi's security clearance, it was forced to cease ground-handling and cargo operations at nine Indian airports, including metro cities Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru and Hyderabad. This is the first time that the Turkish executive has publicly spoken about the matter. “Put the monetary value aside. It was a place built stitch by stitch," Canan said. “We contributed to the development of the sector. We worked with the authorities. We invested heavily,” she said. “This shocked us. It truly saddened us," adding, India had become a second home to the company over two decades of operations.

Turkey condemned Indian strikes, backed Pakistan

Celebi got caught in the aftermath of the four days of missile and drone exchange between India and Pakistan. The military operation was ceased on May 10, 2025, and Celebi's subsidiaries lost their security clearances five days later. Operation Sindoor was launched after terrorists killed 26 people in Pahalgam in April 2025, most of whom were tourists. India said the terrorists had come from Pakistan, while the latter denied any involvement. Amid all this, Turkey showed support for Pakistan, slamming India for the strikes. Reports emerged that Pakistan deployed Turkish-made drones, which further created cracks in India-Turkey relations.

Indians expressed anger against Turkish establishments and products

People called for a ban on Turkish businesses and tourism. Celebi was one of the companies that crumbled in the face of the backlash, despite it stressing that it had no ownership links to the Turkish government. It said at the time that 65 per cent of its parent entity was owned by international institutional investors, and Can and Canan Celebioglu held the remaining 35 per cent. It also dismissed claims that Erdogan’s daughter, Sumeyye Erdogan, held a stake in the company. National security concerns led the Indian government to revoke the security clearance. Celebioglu estimated that around 10,000 workers were transferred.