Gwalior (Madhya Pradesh) [India], May 15 (ANI): Following Turkey's open support for Pakistan amid recent tensions between India and its neighbour, fruit merchants in Madhya Pradesh's Gwalior have expressed strong protest against apples imported from Turkey.

Local traders in Gwalior have condemned Turkey's stand during the India-Pak tension, calling it a betrayal to the nation. They claimed that they would not trade with a country that supported Pakistan and Turkish apples were boycotted in Gwalior.

No fruit sellers are sourcing Turkish apples in the city; instead they are placing orders for apples from Kashmir, South Africa, USA etc.

A fruit trader told ANI, 'Before the tension between India and Pakistan, there was a huge demand for Turkish apples but after the tension, we have stopped getting apples from Turkey. The demand for them has also stopped. Now, our Indian apples are in trend which are brought from Kashmir. We will not order or sell apples from Turkey in future. The reason is clear that it supported Pakistan in the recent war.'

'I think around 10-12 merchants used to place orders for Turkish apples here in the city and probably everyone has boycotted the apples from Turkey. There is no loss as we have many options. We have apples from South Africa, Washington etc. We have completely boycotted it,' he added.

Another merchant said, 'We ordered to fill a container with Turkey apples from Mumbai as soon as we came to know about Turkey supporting Pakistan, I directed to empty the container. Now, we are selling Kashmiri apples and the rest from South Africa, USA, etc. I used to order them from Mumbai, a few people ordered from Delhi, but everyone has boycotted it. The reason behind it, Turkey betrayed India.'

The boycott has not impacted the business and they (Turkey) will only be harmed in the future, he added. (ANI)