Haluk Bayraktar did not hide the partnership with Israel: 'One can only be proud'

Baykar General Manager Haluk Bayraktar responded to criticisms regarding Baykar's joint sponsorship at a fair held in Azerbaijan alongside a company that produces warplanes and weapons for the Israeli army.

In a post on his social media account X, Bayraktar argued that Turkey has taken 'revolutionary' steps in the field of the defense industry, stating, "Today, we are producing UAVs with the most advanced technological capabilities and meeting our needs in a much more cost-effective manner. Moreover, Turkey has become the leader of the world market in this field."

Stating that the fact that Turkish firms "assumed a dominant role and were among the major sponsors" at the ADEX International Defense Exhibition in Azerbaijan is an indicator of this success, Bayraktar said, "One can only be proud of this development."

In his post, Bayraktar used the following expressions:

Have you ever seen the Herons supplied from Israel until today or other military products purchased by paying billions of dollars from abroad become a subject of criticism? Do you remember a debate taking place on social media about these issues? Twenty years ago, Turkey was supplying Heron unmanned aerial vehicles from Israel by paying hundreds of millions of dollars. Moreover, these vehicles were unarmed. These systems, which were procured at 5-10 times the cost of their domestic counterparts, caused both high costs and operational difficulties. Turkey was encountering many problems while using these vehicles and could not even find solutions.

"WE ARE ACCUSTOMED TO FALSE FLAG OPERATIONS"

In the 20 years that have passed, Turkey has taken revolutionary steps in this field. Today, we are producing UAVs with the most advanced technological capabilities and meeting our needs in a much more cost-effective manner. Moreover, Turkey has become the leader of the world market in this field. The fact that Turkish firms assumed a dominant role and were among the major sponsors at the ADEX International Defense Exhibition in our brother country Azerbaijan is the most concrete indicator of this success. One can only be proud of this development. We are accustomed to the "false flag" operations carried out against us on social media. We are determined not to sacrifice our country's national gains to social media operations.