Last Updated:August 01, 2025, 09:47 IST

Official data shows only 24,250 Indian tourists visited Turkey in June, a 37% drop from last year. The dip comes in the wake of Turkey’s role in aiding Pakistan during Op Sindoor

Turkey has been hit hard for supporting Pakistan. Indian tourists visiting Turkey dropped by 37 per cent in June, a month that traditionally sees the highest flow of Indian tourists to Turkey. This follows Indians avoiding the country since its open support for Pakistan came to the fore during Operation Sindoor.

As per official tourism figures from Turkey, only 24,250 Indian tourists visited the country in June, down nearly 37 per cent from the same month last year, when 38,307 Indian tourists had visited. In May, 31,659 Indian tourists went to Turkey, also down from 41,554 Indians who visited in May 2024.

This comes in the backdrop of Turkey’s role in aiding Pakistan during Operation Sindoor, which came to light on May 9, when India revealed that Turkish-made drones were used by its neighbour for an attack.

The debris recovered by India showed that these were SONGAR ASISGUARD drones of Turkish origin. This is the first nationally developed armed drone used by the Turkish armed forces.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi, earlier this week, told Parliament that only three of the 193 United Nations member countries favoured Pakistan, while the remaining nations supported India during Operation Sindoor. Modi was referring to Turkey, China, and Azerbaijan—nations that have often stood by Islamabad on the international stage, including at the United Nations and the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC). These three countries had issued statements in favour of Pakistan when Indian armed forces carried out precision strikes in Pakistan.

Turkey’s stance prompted boycott calls in India, and travel portals like MakeMyTrip, EaseMyTrip and Cleartrip said they would not promote Turkey tour packages. The impact is slowly but surely beginning to show.

May and June are peak tourism months for Indians going on vacation. The 2025 figures are the worst for June, as the full boycott impact has become visible.

“Indian tourists usually book their vacations much in advance, so the real impact of the drop in tourism is being seen in June,” a senior government official told News18.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi recently visited Cyprus en route to Canada for the G7 Summit. This was seen as a major message to Turkey, given that Cyprus has had a long-standing border dispute with it.

PM Modi and the President of Cyprus visited the historic centre of Nicosia, where they were given a guided tour along the United Nations ceasefire line—a symbol of the island’s long-standing division. The President also showed Modi the mountainous region in northern Cyprus, which has remained under Turkish occupation since 1974.

India strongly suspects that Turkey supplied drones to Pakistan when a C-130E Hercules Turkish aircraft landed in Karachi on April 28, less than a week after the Pahalgam terrorist attack. On April 30, a high-ranking Turkish military and intelligence delegation, headed by Lt Gen Yasar Kadioglu, visited the Pakistan Air Force headquarters in Islamabad and met the chief of staff.

Even in its stance and statements after the Pahalgam terror strike, the Turkish government under President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has taken a fully pro-Pakistan line. Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Pakistan’s Chief of Army Staff, Field Marshal Asim Munir, also visited Turkey to thank Erdoğan for his support during tensions with India over Operation Sindoor.

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