Kerala BJP chief Rajeev Chandrasekhar supports boycott of trade, tourism with Turkey

Thiruvananthapuram: Kerala BJP president Rajeev Chandrasekhar on Thursday supported the calls for boycotting trade and tourism with Turkey, saying Indians understand that their hard-earned money should not be spent on those helping enemies of the country.

Chandrasekhar said that India had reached out to help Turkey during the earthquake there through its 'Operation Dost' in 2023.

However, at a time when the world is united in the fight against terrorism, Turkey’s alleged support for a nation that sponsors terror, especially against a country that has helped them, "is deeply unacceptable", the BJP leader said in a Facebook post.

"The boycott of Turkey is organic and spontaneous, and I'm completely in support of it," he said in the post with the hashtags -- #BoycottTurkey #saynototurkey.

In another Facebook post, with the hashtags #BoycottTurkey #SayNoToTurkey #ZeroToleranceToTerrorism #NewIndia, Chandrasekhar said that Indians should choose to spend, invest in, and welcome investments from countries that share a "civilizational outlook, nations that stand for peaceful coexistence, saying no to terrorism, and saying no to war".

He further said that India was the fourth-largest economy in the world with significant outbound and inbound investments and therefore, "nobody needs to tell us we're welcome".