Manufacturer of Bayraktar drones accompanies Turkish President in Ukraine visit

When Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan visited Ukraine on Thursday to meet with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, Haluk Bayraktar, the CEO of Baykar Makina that manufactures Bayraktar drones, took part in his delegation.

Haluk Bayraktar is also the brother of Erdogan’s son-in-law Selcuk Bayraktar.

The company has been selling armed drones to Ukraine since 2019, and last week, Haluk Bayraktar said that they want to step up production with a production facility in Ukraine.

Under an agreement signed in February 2022, Ukraine will allocate land for the drone factory for 49 years, and a training center will be built.

The TB2 military drones currently use Ukrainian-made engines.

The drones have played an important part for the Ukrainian military during the Ukrainian-Russian War. The drones are popular among Ukrainians, and even some songs have been composed for them.

In an interview with CNN, Haluk Bayraktar said that he is proud that the drones have become a symbol of the Ukrainian resistance.

He has not yet made a statement or any social media posts concerning his visit to Ukraine.