Celebi denies link with Erdogan's daughter, reaffirms commitment to India's aviation sector

Celebi Aviation India has issued a statement denying allegations about its Turkish ownership, following the revocation of its security clearance by Indian authorities.

The aviation firm clarified that it has no connection to Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s daughter, Sümeyye Erdogan, stating that she holds no shareholding or ownership in the parent organisation, and stressed that the Turkish shareholding is limited solely to the founding Celebioglu family, who have no political affiliations.

The crackdown on Celebi Aviation came after India's relations with Turkiye came under strain as Ankara backed Islamabad and condemned the Indian armed forces' "Operation Sindoor" following the Pahalgam terror attack.

Also Read: Operation Sindoor: India revokes security clearance of Turkish firm Celebi at 9 airports

Global stakeholding

Celebi emphasised that 65 per cent of its parent organisation is owned by international institutional investors based in Canada, the US, UK, Singapore, UAE, and Western Europe. Among them, Actera Partners II L.P., a Jersey-registered fund, holds a 50 per cent stake in Celebi Havacılık Holding A.Ş., while 15 per cent is held by Alpha Airport Services BV, a Dutch entity.

The remaining 35 per cent is owned by the Celebioglu family — Can and Canan Celebioglu — both of whom reportedly have no political ties. The company unequivocally refuted all misleading and factually-incorrect allegations stating, “There is no one named Sümeyye owning any shareholding in the parent organisation,” dispelling any link to Erdogan’s family.

It reiterated that Celebi Aviation India is a “professionally-governed, globally-operated aviation services company” committed to neutrality and transparency and claims the rumours about its ownership and operations in India as "misleading and factually-incorrect."

Also Read: Arrangements made at affected airports to handle passengers, cargo: Govt on Celebi

Indian operations halted

The revocation of Celebi’s security clearance led to major consequences for its Indian operations. Delhi’s Indira Gandhi International Airport (IGIA) ended ties with the company for ground handling and cargo operations, citing national security grounds.

Following this, Adani Airport Holdings also ended ground handling contracts with the company across several key airports, including Mumbai and Ahmedabad. The airports said that Celebi has been directed to immediately hand over to the company all ground-handling facilities to ensure uninterrupted operations.

Celebi had been handling high-security ground and cargo operations at nine major Indian airports and employed over 10,000 Indians. It claims to have invested more than $220 million in long-term infrastructure in the country over the last 15 years.

Also Read: Adani Group ends tie-up with Turkiye's Celebi for Mumbai, Ahmedabad airport operations

Full compliance asserted

Responding to concerns over security, Celebi reiterated that all its Indian facilities are regularly audited by Indian aviation and security bodies such as the CISF, BCAS, and the Airports Authority of India.

“We remain in full compliance with Indian aviation, national security, and tax regulations, and operate with complete transparency,” the company stated.

The company urged responsible dissemination of information and appealed to media outlets and stakeholders to avoid amplifying speculative and inaccurate narratives that could jeopardise years of collaborative success and the livelihoods of thousands of employees and their families in India.

Celebi concluded by expressing the hope that “facts, transparency, and common sense will prevail over misinformation,” while reaffirming its commitment to contributing meaningfully to India’s aviation ecosystem.