Turkish Government Did Not Urge Indians Against Travel Boycott, Viral Letter Is Fake

Claim

Turkey’s government pleads with Indian tourists through a public statement not to initiate any boycott, stating that most of the local population are unaware of the conflict between India and Pakistan and that Indian travellers are being warmly welcomed across the country.

The archived version of the post can be seen here. The “circular” went viral amid public calls among Indians to boycott travel to Turkey, among other measures, stemming from the latter’s vocal support for Pakistan during the recent tensions between New Delhi and Islamabad.

Fact

Newschecker noticed that the letter was issued by the “Department of Tourism, Ankara.” However, we learnt that the Turkish government authority concerned with tourism is the “Republic of Türkiye Ministry Of Culture And Tourism,” contradicting the viral letter.

We then looked up the recent official press releases issued by the Ministry of Culture and Tourism, where we did not find any such statement. Also, we did not come across any credible news reports, both local and global, about such a statement from the Turkish government.

Newschecker then reached out to Turkey-based fact-checking organisation Teyit, where the editor, Beşire Korkmaz, informed us that there was no verifiable evidence that the viral press release was an official document issued by the authorities.

“There are no official sources sharing or confirming it. Also, the text in the image does not give the impression of being an official document or announcement. Although the phrase ‘Kamu duyurusu’ (‘Public announcement’ in Turkish) appears in the top right corner, the rest of the text continues in English, which is inconsistent. Additionally, the overall design and layout of the document do not resemble those typically issued by official institutions. When looking at the official announcements of the Ministry, the discrepancies in the document can also be observed,” said Korkmaz, directing us to examples of the Ministry’s press releases, while adding that the official name of the tourism authority in Turkey is not “Department of Tourism.”, but the “Republic of Türkiye Ministry of Culture and Tourism.”

A screengrab of the Republic of Türkiye Ministry of Culture and Tourism’s monthly bulletin.

The Republic of Türkiye Ministry of Culture and Tourism, too, confirmed to Newschecker that the viral letter was not shared by the ministry.

Also Read: Edited Photos Of Rahul Gandhi With ‘Spy’ Jyoti Malhotra Shared As Real

Source
Republic of Türkiye Ministry Of Culture And Tourism website
Conversation with Beşire Korkmaz, editor at Teyit
Conversation with Republic of Türkiye Ministry Of Culture And Tourism
(with inputs from Shaminder Singh, Newschecker Punjabi)