JNU Suspends Pact With Turkey University, Cites "National Security"

The Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) has cancelled an agreement with Turkey’s Inonu University citing “national security”, against the backdrop of India-Pakistan tensions and anger over Turkey’s support to Pakistan.

In a post on X, the premier university said it had suspended its Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Turkish university “due to national security considerations”.

“JNU stands with the nation,” the university’s X post further said.

Due to National Security considerations, the MoU between JNU and Inonu University, Türkiye stands suspended until further notice.
JNU stands with the Nation. #NationFirst @rashtrapatibhvn @VPIndia @narendramodi @PMOIndia @AmitShah @DrSJaishankar @MEAIndia @EduMinOfIndia

— Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) (@JNU_official_50) May 14, 2025

According to the JNU website, the agreement was signed on February 3, 2025, for three years. It was scheduled to continue till February 2, 2028.

JNU’s action came on a day the government briefly blocked the Twitter accounts of Turkish news broadcaster, TRT World, for peddling propaganda and misinformation against India.

The action coincides with a growing sentiment in India favouring a boycott of Turkish products and services.

Turkey has been facing anger over its support to Pakistan after Operation Sindoor, launched by India in response to the Pahalgam terror attack in which 26 civilians were killed in cold blood. The use of drones – reportedly of Turkish origin – by Pakistan against Indian targets also fuelled India’s anger.  India and Pakistan agreed on May 10 to halt military actions after four days of intense cross-border drone and missile strikes.

India’s trade relation with Turkiye is also expected to come under strain due to Ankara backing Islamabad and condemning India’s strikes on terror camps in Pakistan.

Leading online travel booking platforms MakeMyTrip and EaseMyTrip have reported mass cancellations and a sharp drop in Indian tourists wanting to travel to Turkey and Azerbaijan due to their anti-India stand during Operation Sindoor.

While the platform has not stopped offering flight bookings to Turkey and Azerbaijan on its website, MakeMyTrip said, “It stands in solidarity with our nation and out of deep respect for our armed forces, we strongly support this sentiment and advise against all non-essential travel to Azerbaijan and Turkey. We have already discontinued all promotions and offers on our platform to discourage tourism to these two destinations.”