But her famous drones are kept on a tight leash and a dishonest wordSelcuk Bayraktar, the son-in-law of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and technical director of Baykar Makina, which produces Bayraktar TB2 attack drones, made a statement on August 30 in a local TV program.
He said that Turkey's projects to create unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) and unmanned fighter jets will fail if they do not have political support. Therefore, he supports the current Turkish government ahead of the upcoming presidential and parliamentary elections in 2023.
Stating that the UAVs produced by the company are world leaders in their class, Selchuk Bayraktar said that if the government loses interest in the projects, there is a real risk of losing this leadership in the world. This scenario is very likely for other projects if the government comes to power with a different agenda. The drone manufacturer was referring to the opposition parties, which President Erdogan regularly accuses of being under the influence of foreign states.
As an example, the president's son-in-law cited the story of the Devrim domestic car project, which was developed in Turkey in 1961, but could not be put into mass production. Then the national car model did not find the necessary economic and political support from the state. According to Selcuk Bayraktar, if the main goal of Turkish economic policy is not the production of the most advanced technologies inside the country, Turkey will not be able to be completely independent.
AIR CORRIDOR FOR PRESIDENTIAL DRONEThe drone manufacturer recalled that Azerbaijan awarded him and his brother (Haluk Bayraktar, CEO of Baykar Makina) the state Order of Karabakh, and this is proof of how useful the UAVs they produce are.
Selchuk Bayraktar added that without the import of UAVs, Azerbaijan "would not have achieved success in the fight against terrorism."
To put it simply, the son-in-law of the Turkish president is seriously afraid that if Recep Tayyip Erdogan leaves, he will simply be removed from the ownership of Baykar Makina. And there are plenty of reasons for this.
President Erdogan views Baykar Makina as a family business and promotes the sale of its products in many countries, especially widely in Africa. It is no secret that President Erdogan, his family members and their business partners benefit enormously from the sale of defense industry products and military equipment.
Baykar Makina uses state facilities and state preferences, but also receives high profits in the local and international markets from the sale of weapons. And the only person making decisions in this area is personally Recep Tayyip Erdogan. An important reason for other countries to choose Turkish UAVs is that Turkey does not have a lengthy export approval process – unlike the United States and the European Union. A wide state credit line is also provided.
President Erdogan, at the graduation ceremony of naval cadets last week, said that the Turkish army has become much stronger thanks to the Baykar Makina attack UAVs.
At the same time, Turkish military experts note that Bayraktar TV2 drones are a good product in the class of medium-range UAVs, but they are not completely made of local components. And imported components for their production through various supply chains are critical links in this project.
Critical experts also state that the long-term experience and knowledge of the Turkish Armed Forces in the production of drones is now fully accumulated in the Baykar Makina project. But despite this, Bayraktar TV2 could not achieve the desired goals in regions with strong air defense systems, although it proved to be a formidable weapon in the anti-guerrilla war and the fight against terrorism.
In particular, Bayraktar TV2 drones have performed poorly in Libya and have become an easy target for ground fire. According to a report submitted to the UN Security Council by a group of experts on Libya on March 8, 2021, Bayraktar TB-2 "were easily destroyed in the air by the Pantsir S-1 air defense system, which was supplied to Libya by Russia through the United Arab Emirates. This makes the named type of drones a preferred product for third countries with their insurgency movements.
UKRAINIAN MOTIVES AND TURKISH DEMARCHEUkrainians consider Bayraktar TV2 drones to be one of the most useful weapons in the confrontation with Russia.
The Ukrainian population even collected money to buy these drones for the Ukrainian army. In June, Baykar Makina announced that she would give Ukraine three drones for free, and wanted donors to spend the money raised on humanitarian needs.
In this step, however, there was more propaganda than practice. In general, it is necessary to take into account the fact that the "ardently pro-Ukrainian" position of Selchuk Bayraktar is largely explained not by some ideological moments. He critically needs Ukrainian engines – hence these propaganda steps and public statements.
Haluk Bayraktar, CEO of Baykar Makina, accompanied President Erdogan during a visit to Ukraine on August 19, 2022. At the same time, nothing has been heard about the use of Turkish drones in Ukraine for a long time, but there is a lot of talk about the opening of a UAV production plant in Ukraine.
In accordance with the agreement signed during Erdogan's official visit to Kiev in February 2022, Ukraine was to allocate land for the Bayraktar TB2 drone production plant for a period of 49 years and provide this project with a number of benefits and preferences. Details and materials used in the production of UAVs should be exempt from duty, and all financial and personnel information related to the new facility should be kept secret. In addition to the UAV manufacturing plant, it was also planned to build a training center. Baykar Makina will be exempt from income tax for ten years in order to encourage her investments. The agreement expires on January 1, 2035.
For Baykar Makina, which currently uses the engines of the Ukrainian companies Ivchenko-Progress and Motor Sich in the drones produced, the production base in Ukraine will also provide convenience in terms of logistics and production time. That, in fact, is the whole background of Selchuk Bayraktar's great love for Ukraine.
At the same time, it must be remembered that the same Motor Sich plant was seriously affected by Russian air raids and missile strikes, and its potential for long-term and regular engine production now raises certain doubts. Ankara also takes into account the possible negative reaction of Moscow to the massive export of drones to Ukraine (and here gas, tourists, the Syrian dossier, and the grain deal are at stake), as well as the insolvency of the Ukrainian side.
A kind of barter was established between Ankara and Ukraine: the Turks paid for the engines produced by Motor Sich not even with drones, but with other types of weapons. And they supplied them through Azerbaijan, which sent Turkish bombs and shells to Sudan. And from there, weapons were transported by Ukrainian transport planes "under the green flag" to Romania, and then to Ukraine. And a number of local African companies affiliated with the head of the Sovereign Council, General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, oversaw this issue from the Sudan. In this circumstance lies the relative tolerance of the Americans towards the Sudanese general, despite all his "anti-democratic" actions inside the country. But now this supply chain has been suspended due to excessive publicity and a corresponding negative reaction from Moscow.
Vasily IvanovVasily Ivanovich Ivanov is a journalist.