Turkey's Ilker Ayci said on Tuesday he will not take on the role of chief executive of Tata Group's Air India, days after the announcement of his appointment led to opposition in India over his previous political links.
Ayci, a former chairman of Turkish Airlines, was an adviser in 1994 to Tayyip Erdogan when the Turkish president was mayor of Istanbul.
Ayci said in a statement that in a recent meeting with Tata Chairman N Chandrasekaran he declined to take the post after reading about attempts "to colour my appointment with undesirable colours" in some sections of the Indian media. "As a business leader who has always prioritised professional credo ... I have come to the conclusion that it would not be a feasible or an honorable decision to accept the position in the shadow of such narrative," Ayci said.The move comes as a setback for India's Tata, which will need to restart the search for a CEO to turn around the loss-making carrier.
A government source told Reuters last week that India is conducting more stringent than usual checks in the case of Ayci and Air India, because security agencies have flagged concerns about his links in Turkey.Additional reporting by Jose Joseph; Editing by Kim Coghill, Christian Schmollinger & Shri Navaratnam
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