The Turkish Foreign Ministry said that Ukraine should stop calling Bayraktar "Turkish".
According to Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu, the drones, although manufactured in Turkey, belong to completely different countries.
He said this at the G20 leaders' summit, which is taking place in Italy, ABC Gazetesi reports.
The Turkish Foreign Minister met with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov. After the meeting, Cavusoglu held a press conference with Turkish and Russian journalists. A reporter from the Russian Federation asked the Turkish minister a question about the use of Bayraktar drones in the Donbas. In response, Cavusoglu said that the aircraft, although manufactured in Turkey, belong to Ukraine.
"If a country buys it from us, from another country, these weapons cannot be called Turkish, Russian or Ukrainian weapons. If the state buys it from us, it is no longer a Turkish product. Maybe it was produced in Turkey, but it belongs to Ukraine. Turkey cannot be blamed for this," the Turkish minister said.
After that, Cavusoglu added that Turkey often encountered weapons from different countries during the fight against terrorism, but did not blame these states for this. For comparison, the Turkish minister cited the example of weapons from the Russian Federation and noted that Ukraine should stop calling drones "Turkish".
"Maybe they (Bayraktar) were produced in Turkey, but belongs to Ukraine. Turkey cannot be blamed for this. Ukraine should stop using our name," UNIAN quotes the minister.
