Ilker Aiji was an adviser to Tayyip Erdogan in 1994, when the Turkish president was mayor of Istanbul.
New Delhi / Istanbul: Turkey’s Ilker Aiji said on Tuesday that he would not take on the role of chief executive of Tata Group’s Air India, days after announcing his appointment led to opposition in India over his previous political ties.
Tata last month (February 14th) announced the appointment of Ayci as CEO of the former state-owned Air India after taking on the debt-ridden airline in January in a $ 2.4 billion shareholding and debt deal.
But last week, Rashtriya Svayamsevak Sangh (RSS), the BJP’s ideological mentor, called on the government to block Aichi’s appointment, citing his previous political ties to Turkey, which have strained relations with New Delhi.
Aiji, a former chairman of Turkish Airlines, was an adviser to Tayyip Erdogan in 1994, when the Turkish president was mayor of Istanbul.
Aichi said in a statement that at a recent meeting with Tata President N Chandrasekaran, he refused to take office after reading about attempts to “color my appointment with unwanted colors” in some parts of the Indian media.
“As a business leader who has always given priority to the professional credo … I have come to the conclusion that it would not be a feasible or respectable decision to take a position in the shadow of such a story,” Aichi said.
A spokesman for the Indian Tata confirmed the development without giving further details.
The move comes as a setback for India’s Tata, which will have to resume its search for a CEO to reverse the losing carrier. Although the airline has lucrative landing slots, each new boss faces the difficult task of upgrading Air India’s aging fleet and changing its financial and service levels.
The appointment of a foreign national as the CEO of an airline in India requires permission from the government before it can continue.
A government source told Reuters last week that India was conducting tougher than usual checks in the case of Ayci and Air India, as security agencies expressed concerns about its ties to Turkey.