Hindu group protests appointment of Turkish national as airline chief

NEW DELHI: A Hindu nationalist group has called on the government to block the appointment of Turkish national Ilker Ayci as chief executive of Air India, citing his political links in Turkey, with which India has strained relations.

Ilker Ayci, who is a Turkish national and former chairman of Turkish Airlines, was recently appointed as the Managing Director and CEO of the airline by Indian conglomerate Tata Group.

The call from the economic wing of Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, the ideological parent of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s party, comes as government agencies carry out more intensive than usual background checks on Ayci, who was an adviser in 1994 to Tayyip Erdogan, when the Turkish president was mayor of Istanbul.

Tata Group announced Ayci’s appointment as CEO of previously state-run Air India after recently taking over the debt-laden airline in a $2.4 billion equity and debt deal. In its February 14 statement announcing Ayci’s appointment, Tata said Ayci was “an aviation industry leader” who would “lead Air India into the new era”. Ayci said in the same statement that he was delighted to lead “an iconic airline”.

Ashwani Mahajan, co-convenor of the Swadeshi Jagran Manch, which is seen as having significant influence on Indian policymaking, said the government must not approve Ayci’s appointment as Turkey had been sympathetic to Pakistan.

The appointment of a foreign national as CEO of an airline in India requires government clearance before it can proceed. While checks on a CEO are in most cases a formality, they are more stringent in Air India’s case, flagging concerns security agencies have about Ayci’s links in Turkey.

Ayci was born in Istanbul, Turkey in 1971. He was an advisor of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, when the latter was mayor of Istanbul, from 1994 to 1998. He had served Turkish Airlines as its chairman from 2015 to 2022 and was credited with turning the airline around.

India lodged a diplomatic protest in 2020 after Erdogan said New Delhi’s decision to revoke the autonomous status of Kashmir was worsening the situation there and that Turkey stood in solidarity with its people.