Celebi Airport Services Pvt. Ltd., a wholly-owned subsidiary of Turkey-based 'Celebi Aviation', a ground handling agency that opera...
Celebi Airport Services Pvt. Ltd., a wholly-owned subsidiary of Turkey-based 'Celebi Aviation', a ground handling agency that operated at India's nine major airports: Mumbai, Delhi, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Cochin, Kanpur, Ahmedabad, Chennai, and the MOPA airport in Goa. Their licence was revoked by the Bureau of Civil Aviation Security (BCAS), the security wing of the civil aviation ministry, on Thursday, citing National Security.
“In the power conferred upon DG, BCAS, the security clearance in r/o Celebi Airport Services India Pvt. Ltd. is hereby revoked with immediate effect in the interest of National Security,” mentioned in an order issued on Thursday, May 15.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's daughter Sumeyye Bayraktar will have to pay the price for Ankara's open support to Pakistan during Operation Sindoor. The 39-year-old Turkish woman is an entrepreneur and she is one of the owners of Celebi Aviation, Turkey.
Bayraktar drones
Erdogan's daughter is married to Selcuk Bayraktar, son of Turkish businessman Ozdemir Bayraktar. He is the owner of Bayraktar Defence, the company that manufactures the Bayraktar Akinci, the drone. This drone was supplied to Pakistan. The Pakistan Air Force fired more than 500 Bayraktar drones at India in two days to hit its important air bases. Even though all of these drones were shot down, it exposed the Turkey-Pakistan nexus and also exposed how Recep Tayyip Erdogan and his family members got benefits from the defence deals.
Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena also raised similar security concerns in Mumbai; the party cited Turkey’s diplomatic alignment with Pakistan during past military tensions with India as the basis for its demand. This also happened at a huge nationwide uproar against Turkish products & services, especially when Turkey offered Pakistan an extended hand during India's war on Pakistani terror organisations.
Company's Clarification Post Government Action on Security Clearance
"Çelebi’s business in India is truly an Indian enterprise, led and managed by Indian professionals, deeply invested in the country, and committed to its growth. We are not a Turkish organisation by any standard and adhere fully to globally accepted practices of corporate governance, transparency, and neutrality, with no political affiliations or links to any foreign government or individuals.
Currently we are employing over 3000 Indian staff in Mumbai. We are a security-cleared company by the relevant regulatory bodies in India, and all our employees are deputed for operations at the airport after due police verifications and thorough background checks," a statement from the company read.
“...CNAS is purely a business organisation having no political affiliations or political views or alignment with the political views of any foreign country or its government...,” it added.
On its official website, Celebi has said, "celebi’s presence in India grew exponentially with three different entities. Çelebi’s first step into India started off with a joint venture with a mandate to provide comprehensive and world-class services at Mumbai International Airport. Within a year, Çelebi was registered in India to provide ground handling as Çelebi Airport Services India and cargo services as Çelebi Delhi Cargo Terminal Management India at Delhi International Airport."
It said further, "Within the last 10 years, these two stations have grown to become a total of nine stations in India consisting of Mumbai, Delhi, Cochin, Kannur, Bangalore, Hyderabad, Goa(GOX) and Ahmedabad & Chennai."
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