New Delhi: The Turkish government has clarified that the Air India Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner that crashed in Ahmedabad on Thursday, was not maintained by Turkish Technic.
Till now, 274 people have died in the crash that occurred within seconds of the aircraft taking off from Ahmedabad on its way to Gatwick, London. Of those killed, 241 were in the aircraft, while the remaining were on the ground.
Immediately after the accident, fingers were pointed at a maintenance contract that Air India inked with Turkish Technic. This comes at a time when relations between India and Turkey are at an all-time low, following that country’s support to Pakistan after the Pahalgam terror strike and during Operation Sindoor.
Hints were also been dropped that Turkish maintenance staff could have been involved in ‘sabotage’.
The Republic of Türkiye Directorate of Communications Center for Countering Disinformation has now labeled these allegations as ‘false’ in a post shared on X.
The Turkish government characterized the claims as an attempt to sway public perception regarding relations between Türkiye and India.
“The assertion that the maintenance of the Boeing 787-8 passenger aircraft was performed by Turkish Technic after the Air India crash is incorrect. This claim is disinformation aimed at influencing public opinion about Türkiye-India relations,” it has been posted.
It was further clarified that under agreements established between Air India and Turkish Technic for 2024 and 2025, maintenance services are exclusively for B777-type wide-body aircraft. The Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner involved in the incident does not fall under this agreement.
“To date, Turkish Technic has not provided maintenance for any Air India aircraft of this type. While we know which company conducted the most recent maintenance on the crashed aircraft, we refrain from commenting further to prevent additional speculation,” it was stated.
The Turkish Center for Countering Disinformation has also expressed its heartfelt condolences to the Indian people over this tragic incident.
