Turkish Interior Minister: Anyone who is not proud of Turkish drones is a traitor

Turkish Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu on Monday accused all those who are not proud of Turkey's armed drones of treason after Deva Party (Democracy and Progress Party) leader Ali Babacan questioned public funding of Turkish drone manufacturer Bayraktar.

"Our people did this. Those who are not proud are traitors. I say this very clearly, without parentheses," he said.

Deva Party Chairman Ali Babacan was inundated with a flood of reactions last week when he called out drone production company Baykar:

“This project has become so sacred, so untouchable, like they would destroy anyone that touches it. I'm sorry, we will touch it, of course, I am saying clearly that these things cannot happen through a single company. If they're afraid of competition, let them be,” he said.

But later he said his remarks were twisted.

Baykar was founded in the 1980s and began focusing on unmanned aircraft in 2005 as Turkey sought to bolster its local defense industry.

The company, currently headed by President Tayyip Erdogan's son-in-law Selcuk Bayraktar, gained global notoriety after its TB2 drone was a huge success in defending Ukraine against Russia, and currently exports them to 28 countries.