Indians punishing Turkey over Operation Sindoor stance? Travel falls 25%

One often wonders if the online “Boycott” calls and hashtags have any effect on the ground or just vanish in thin air. Indian visitors to Turkey were down 25 per cent in 2025, according to data released by the Turkish tourism ministry. This comes as an aftermath of Operation Sindoor when Turkish military equipment helped Pakistan and repeated push from Turkey to toe Pakistan’s line on Kashmir.

Only 250,762 Indians visited Turkey in 2025, a drop of 24.24 per cent over the 330,985 Indians who visited Turkey in 2024. This does not include the transit passengers who fly via Turkey, but Indians who entered Turkey for Business, Leisure or any other purpose.

Very little impact on Turkey

Indians are a minuscule less than 1% when it comes to foreigners visiting Turkey. Russia, Germany and the United Kingdom form the major nationalities which visit Turkey. Turkey saw 5,27,75,261 international visits in 2025, which was nearly as many as 2024 without any significant growth.

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Indians to Turkey were growing until the end of the first quarter of the calendar year. At the end of March, 53, 137 Indians had visited Turkey, a growth of 1% over the previous year. Turkey had a negative growth of 5% in the first quarter, and Indians were against the tide. A deadly terrorist attack at Pahalgam saw terrorists kill innocent civilians, which led to India starting Operation Sindoor. Pakistan was openly backed by Turkey and Azerbaijan, with the two countries having supported Pakistan in the past as well, for its position on Kashmir. This led to a boycott call on Turkey, along with calls to Air India and IndiGo to cut connections with Turkey for aviation.

Post Operation Sindoor, the numbers started dwindling, ending the year nearly a quarter lower than the previous year.

Aviation connections remain

While the Indian government suspended operations of ground handling agency Celebi for links to Turkey, the airline companies have continued their links to Turkey. IndiGo, which had inducted damp-leased B777s from Turkish Airlines, got a last and final extension even after Operation Sindoor. The aircraft are expected to return towards the end of February and will be replaced by the XLRs, which will lead to a significant reduction in seats and capacity. IndiGo also sees damp-leased narrowbody operations from Turkish carriers, similar to SpiceJet, which has also relied on some Turkish-flagged aircraft for its wet/damp-leased operations.

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Turkish Airlines was the first codeshare partner for IndiGo. The airline has since diversified, changed, expanded and adapted. It is about three times bigger than it was when the codeshare was signed. The total number of flights to Turkey would shrink further in 2026, with IndiGo slated to offer fewer seats than the previous year, unless there are more changes to the widebody lease terms.

While the number is minuscule for Turkey, Indians are travelling more than ever, and any loss in passenger numbers is significant in the long run.

Ameya Joshi is the founder of Network Thoughts.