Brothers Haluk and Selcuk Bayraktar, makers of the Bayraktar drones, said in an interview with the BBCthat they would never sell them to Russia.
Haluk Bayraktar stressed that this “cannot be out of the question”, as the company unconditionally supports Ukraine:
“Money is not a priority for us. Money and material resources have never been the goal in our business. Our friendship and cooperation with Ukraine has been going on for many years. <…> Nothing will overshadow our cooperation with Ukraine, no matter what amount is offered, our position on this matter is clear.”
According to him, the decision to sell is made by both Baykar itself and the Turkish government. However, according to the BBC, the final vote still probably remains with the authorities.
On July 26, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said that Russian President Vladimir Putin wants to cooperate with Baykar: “Putin told me that he wants to work with Baykar. He suggested setting up a plant in Russia, as they did in the United Arab Emirates.”
