Turkish aviation giant recounts losing India business during Op Sindoor – Firstpost

A year after India revoked the security clearance of Turkish aviation services company Celebi amid tensions sparked by Operation Sindoor and Ankara’s support for Pakistan, chairperson Canan Celebioglu has spoken about the fallout, saying nearly $500 million in business value and 17 years of work disappeared “in a single day”.

Speaking to Bloomberg HT, Celebioglu described India’s May 2025 decision as one of the most painful episodes in the company’s history, saying thousands of employees were transferred to rival operators overnight and years of investment in one of the world’s fastest-growing aviation markets were effectively wiped out.

“All our equipment, everything we had, was seized and they removed us from there,” Celebioglu said. “They transferred our 10,000 employees to another company in a single day.”

“They brought the value we had created, perhaps $400 million or $500 million, down to zero in a single day.”

The remarks mark the first time the Turkish executive has publicly discussed the revocation of Celebi’s security clearance, a move that forced the company to cease ground-handling and cargo operations at nine Indian airports, including Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru and Hyderabad.

Fallout from Operation Sindoor

India’s Bureau of Civil Aviation Security (BCAS) withdrew the security clearances of Celebi’s Indian subsidiaries on May 15, 2025, five days after India and Pakistan agreed to halt four days of missile, drone and artillery exchanges following Operation Sindoor.

The military operation was launched after the April 2025 terror attack in Pahalgam that killed 26 people, most of them tourists. India blamed Pakistan-based terrorists for the attack, while Islamabad denied involvement.

Turkey’s support for Pakistan during the crisis quickly emerged as a major irritant in India-Turkey relations.

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan condemned India’s military action and publicly expressed solidarity with Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif. Reports that Pakistan deployed Turkish-made drones during the conflict further fuelled public anger in India.

The diplomatic tensions soon spilled into the economic sphere, with calls for boycotts of Turkish products, businesses and tourism gaining momentum across India.

Although Celebi repeatedly stressed that it was a privately run company with no ownership links to the Turkish government, it became one of the most visible corporate casualties of the backlash.

The company said at the time that international institutional investors owned 65 per cent of its parent entity, while Can and Canan Celebioglu held the remaining 35 per cent. It also denied allegations circulating on social media that Erdogan’s daughter, Sumeyye Erdogan, had any stake in the company.

Nevertheless, Indian authorities cited national security concerns in revoking the company’s security clearance, making it impossible for Celebi to continue operating at Indian airports.

Airport operators subsequently terminated contracts with the Turkish firm and reassigned operations to alternative service providers to ensure continuity.

‘It was built stitch by stitch’

For Celebioglu, the loss was about more than balance sheets and assets.

“Put the monetary value aside,” she said. “It was a place built stitch by stitch.”

The executive said India had become a second home over nearly two decades of operations. During that period, Celebi expanded into one of the country’s leading airport services providers, investing heavily in equipment, cargo facilities and workforce development.

“We contributed to the development of the sector. We worked with authorities. We invested heavily,” she said. “This shocked us. It truly saddened us.”

According to court filings, airport authorities moved quickly to absorb workers and prevent disruptions to flight operations.

At Delhi airport, passes issued to Celebi employees were temporarily recognised while workers were transitioned to operators such as Air India SATS, Bird Worldwide Flight Services and GMR Airports.

The exact number of affected employees remains unclear. While Celebioglu estimated that around 10,000 workers were transferred, court records relating to two Indian subsidiaries referred to 3,791 jobs. Industry observers say the larger figure may include contract workers and employees across multiple group entities.

Court sides with government

Celebi challenged the government’s decision before the Delhi High Court, arguing that it had received neither prior notice nor an opportunity to respond before its clearance was revoked.

The company also pointed out that its permits had been renewed for five years in November 2022 following security reviews and that it had operated in India for 17 years without any recorded security violations.

However, the Delhi High Court dismissed the challenge in July 2025 after examining confidential material submitted by the government.

The court said the classified documents revealed “compelling national security considerations” and accepted the government’s argument that airport ground-handling companies occupy sensitive positions with access to aircraft, cargo operations, passenger information and restricted airport areas.

The judgment referred to concerns that included potential espionage risks and the possible dual use of logistics infrastructure during periods of external conflict. However, the evidence itself remains confidential and has not been disclosed publicly.

The ruling effectively ended Celebi’s efforts to regain access to the Indian market.

A profitable operation lost

India had become one of Celebi’s most significant overseas markets before the revocation.

According to the company’s audited accounts, its Indian subsidiaries generated revenue of 6.48 billion Turkish lira and operating profit of 1.18 billion lira in 2024.

The company also reported approximately 1.02 billion lira worth of property, machinery and equipment in India classified as assets held for sale at the end of 2025.

While the action did not amount to a formal nationalisation, it effectively ended the company’s airport operations in the country and left its future recovery dependent on legal and commercial proceedings.

A case study in geopolitical risk

The Celebi episode has become one of the most prominent examples of how geopolitical tensions can reshape business fortunes in strategic sectors.

Relations between India and Turkey had already been strained by Ankara’s repeated comments on Kashmir and its close defence ties with Pakistan. Operation Sindoor pushed those tensions to a new low, prompting a broader reassessment of Turkish commercial interests in India.

Since then, both countries have taken tentative steps towards restoring diplomatic engagement, including the resumption of foreign office consultations after a four-year gap. Yet the fallout continues to be felt by companies caught in the middle.

For Celebioglu, the experience remains difficult to process even a year later.

“It was a place built stitch by stitch,” she said.

Within a day, that business was gone.

With inputs from agencies.