Meet Sumeyye Erdoğan, daughter of Turkish President Erdogan, who got punished by India for supporting…, she is now…

Sumeyye Erdoğan graduated from Araklı İmam Hatip High School in Trabzon and, after not achieving her desired university entrance exam results in 2002, pursued higher education in the United States with a scholarship.

Written by: Victor Dasgupta Edited by: Victor Dasgupta

Published: May 18, 2025, 12:45 PM IST

Share

Share Article

• Facebook
• WhatsApp
• X
• Email
• Telegram
• Linkedin

https://www.india.com/news/world/sumeyye-erdogan-turkish-president-erdogan-pakistan-turkey-india-indian-civil-aviation-celebi-aviation-india-greece-armenia-cyprus-and-saudi-arabia-united-arab-emirates-7827507/ Copy

New Delhi: The Turkish firm that handles the lion’s share of services at nine major airports in India, has lost its security clearance following Turkey’s support of Pakistan over Operation Sindoor. Civil Aviation Ministry, in its statement, said the security clearance for Celebi Ground Handling India Private Limited “is hereby revoked with immediate effect in the interest of national security”. This is India’s first overt move against a Turkish firm, though for the last few years, the government has ramped up its engagement with the traditional opponents and antagonists of Turkey — Greece, Armenia, Cyprus and Saudi Arabia and United Arab Emirates in the Arab bloc.

Çelebi Aviation India, on the other hand, refuted the allegations circulating on social media regarding its ownership and operations in India as “misleading and factually incorrect”. The statement comes shortly after Delhi’s Indira Gandhi International Airport (IGI) terminated its contract with the Turkish-origin firm, citing security concerns, which Çelebi has firmly denied.

“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”, the official statement read.

Addressing rumours of political affiliations and Turkish government links, Çelebi Aviation categorically rejected claims that it has any connections to the Turkish government or political figures. The company specifically denied allegations involving Sümeyye Erdoğan, daughter of Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, stating that she holds no shareholding or ownership in the parent organisation.

Who is Sümeyye Erdoğan?

• Sümeyye Erdoğan Bayraktar is a Turkish businesswoman
• She is the youngest daughter of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and Emine Erdoğan.
• She was born on August 22, 1985, in Istanbul.
• She graduated from Araklı İmam Hatip High School in Trabzon and, after not achieving her desired university entrance exam results in 2002, pursued higher education in the United States with a scholarship.
• She earned a bachelor’s degree in sociology and politics from Indiana University Bloomington and a master’s degree in economics from the London School of Economics.
• She also studied Arabic at Jordan University.
• Sumeyye served as a political advisor to her father during his tenure as prime minister, notably in 2013.
• He served as the prime minister from 2003 to 2014.
• She has three siblings: Ahmet Burak, Necmettin Bilal, and Esra.
• Sumeyya also worked as a consultant for the Justice and Development Party (AKP), monitoring foreign relations.
• In 2014, she started to focus on civil society work. For that, she left the consultant role of the Justice and Development Party.
• Sumeyye is also the co-founder and the Vice-President of the Women and Democracy Association(KADEM), which was established in 2013.
• The association promotes women’s rights and gender equality.
• In 2010, she became a partner in the food company Doruk Izgara alongside her brother, Bilal Erdoğan.
• On May 14, 2016, she married Selçuk Bayraktar, a prominent Turkish engineer and CEO of Baykar. They have two children.
• Selcuk Bayraktar is a prominent defence entrepreneur and the son of Ozdemir Bayraktar.
• Selcuk heads Baykar Defence, the company that produces the Bayraktar Akinci drones, advanced unmanned aerial vehicles used for military operations.

In the last few weeks, Turkey has been facing massive backlash over its support that includes cutting down on trade and tourism. Indian tourists cancelling trips to the country as a “Boycott Turkey” – that includes Turkish products – is sweeping the social media. Over the last few days, several prominent universities in India – including Delhi’s Jawaharlal Nehru University — have cancelled tie-ups and programmes with Turkey’s educational institutions.