Armed Drones in Turkey: Erdogan Son-in-Law Selcuk Bayraktar, TB2 Planes in War

Photographer: Burak Milli / Anadolu Agency via Getty Images

Last year, Selcuk Bayraktar helped with conflicts in Libya and Azerbaijan, thousands of miles from his home in Turkey.

Bayraktar, a former MIT research student married to the youngest daughter of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, was central to Turkey’s rise as a producer of armed drones. In 2020, the TB2 unmanned aerial vehicles from his Baykar company were used with devastating consequences by governments in Tripoli and Baku, both Turkish allies.

The 41-year-old, whose last name means ‘standard bearer’, shares Erdogan’s ambition to make Turkey’s projection of military power self-sufficient. They lead a drive for homegrown kit that throws Ankara into uneasy new alliances and forced bonds with traditional NATO partners.

“Our air vehicles are admired all over the world,” Erdogan said in January. “Turkish armed UAVs are changing war methods and have changed the trend of the war in Libya.” He later used data showing that seven Turkish defense companies are among the top 100 in the world, up from two in 2016.

Bayraktar also likes to wrap herself in the flag. When some Turks pointed out his privileged position and Baykar’s use of some imported parts, including motorcycles, he tweeted that the drones are “not of the groom,” but of the nation, and “will fly whether you like it or not! ” The aircraft components, he said, are 93% made in Turkey. Baykar did not respond to an email asking for comment.

Mapping the growing footprint of the Turkish military: QuickTake

The intention is undeniable, but so are the risks. Turkey’s interventionist foreign policy and whatever it takes to use military elite technology could leave Ankara no man’s land in a transaction.

The US sanctioned Turkey and shut it out of Lockheed Martin Corp.’s F-35 jet program. for buying a Russian missile system, a deal Turkey hoped would include technology transfer. British and Canadian firms stopped supplying drone parts after concerns arose about how and where the planes were being used.

Turkish engineers aim to develop domestic tank engines as well as the experimental TF-X fighter after delays in a deal with British Rolls-Royce, but it is an expensive venture with no guarantee of early success.

Turkey is fast becoming a market leader and emerging power in deadly drone technology, said Raluca Csernatoni, a visiting scientist to Carnegie Europe. This is part of a broader and ongoing effort to develop a self-sufficient defense industry and President Erdogan’s stated ambition to reduce Turkey’s dependence on foreign weapons systems. However, this is easier said than done, ”she said, citing Canada’s decision to end the collaboration.

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Erdogan curbed the influence of generals on defense procurement, took direct control of the procurement office and aligned it with companies close to the government. The shift created jobs and boosted military exports, which topped $ 2 billion last year, led by armored vehicles and ships. In the drone market, Turkey remains a small player compared to the US, China and Israel.

Over the past two decades, only the United Arab Emirates has risen further in the list of arms suppliers compiled by SIPRI, which researches global weapons spending. Turkey’s total defense equipment spending has risen sharply, but imports have fallen by 59% between 2016 and 2020 compared to the previous five-year period. This also applies to suspended F-35 deliveries.

Turkish drones – Baykar has competition from Turkish Aerospace Industries Inc. – also stopped a major advance of Russian-backed government forces in Syria last year.

It was the kind of operation that arouses pride in nationalist politicians and voters who have rallied behind the president.

They bitterly recall a US arms embargo imposed after Turkey captured the northern third of Cyprus in 1974, as well as back-to-back decisions in 2015 by the US and Germany to withdraw air defenses. The footage, which came as Turkey and a US-led coalition prepared for joint air strikes against Islamic State, shocked Ankara, which considered them punishment for cracking down on Kurdish separatists who responded with attacks to the collapse of peace efforts.

In once-friendly Western capitals, Turkey’s share continued to decline as the war in Syria, migration, human rights and the aftermath of a failed 2016 coup weakened ties.

Turkish leaders are increasingly insisting that traditional allies no longer have their backs on the country. The condemnation is behind attempts at defense cooperation with Russia and Pakistan, among others, despite threats from US sanctions that periodically collapsed Turkish markets and contributed to a currency crisis in 2018.