Baykar Played a Key Role in the Karabakh War: Aliyev Awards Selcuk Bayraktar

The President of Azerbaijan, Ilham Aliyev, received Selcuk Bayraktar, the Chief Technology Officer of the Turkish company Baykar, on Monday in Baku, according to Anadolu, referencing the country’s presidential website.

During the meeting, Aliyev highlighted that the Turkish defense industry has achieved significant successes in recent years, noting that Baykar has played one of the leading roles in this regard.

Aliyev mentioned the contribution of Baykar's products during the 44-day war in the fall of 2020. He highly appreciated the support provided to Azerbaijan by the Turkish people and Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan during the Second Karabakh War. Aliyev awarded Bayraktar the “Karabakh” medal.

Additionally, it was reported that both sides discussed cooperation in the defense industry between Azerbaijan and Turkey. During a meeting between Bayraktar and Azerbaijan’s Minister of Defense Zakir Hasanov, Hasanov awarded Bayraktar a medal for his contributions to military cooperation.

According to Armenia Today, following the negotiations between the Turkish company’s leader and the Azerbaijani president, local media released photographs showing Bayraktar presenting Aliyev with a model of the Turkish low-observable Kızılelma strike drone, which is currently being developed by Baykar. The first prototype of the drone was put into production in March 2022, and reports of Kızılelma’s first flight surfaced in December 2022.