Turkish firm Celebi loses nod for airport services

Aviation watchdog BCAS Thursday revoked the security clearance of ground handling company Celebi Airport Services India, a unit of Turkiye's Celebi, with immediate effect in the “interest of national security”.

- PRESS TRUST OF INDIA

The move by the Bureau of Civil Aviation Security came against the backdrop of Turkiye’s backing for Pakistan and its condemnation of India’s recent strikes on terror camps in the neighbouring country and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK) under ‘Operation Sindoor’.

Pakistan had also used Turkish drones on a large scale in the military conflict with India.

Official sources, meanwhile, said the government may discourage people from going to Turkiye as well as Azerbaijan, which had also actively supported Pakistan in the conflict. As a result, there is likely to be a significant drop in visits of Indian tourists, hosting of destination weddings and shooting of Indian films in the two countries in the coming days, the sources said.

“the security clearance in r/o Celebi Airport Services India Pvt Ltd is hereby revoked with immediate effect in the interest of national security,” the BCAS said in an order. The security clearance under the category ‘Ground Handling Agency’ was approved by the BCAS in November 2022. There are also calls in certain quarters for boycotting Turkish goods and tourism. Some online travel