BAKU, May 28 (AFP): Looping in the air at lightning speed, Turkish drones like those used against Russian forces in Ukraine draw cheers from the crowd at an air show in Azerbaijan.
Turkey is showcasing its defence technology at the aerospace and technology festival "Teknofest" that started in Azerbaijan's capital Baku this week.
Turkey's TB2 drones are manufactured by aerospace company Baykar Defence, where Erdogan's increasingly prominent son-in-law Selcuk Bayraktar is chief technology officer.
On Wednesday, Bayraktar flew over Baku aboard an Azerbaijani air force Mikoyan MiG-29 plane. One of his combat drones, the "Akinci", accompanied the flight.
A video showing Bayraktar in command of the warplane, dressed in a pilot's uniform decorated with Turkish and Azerbaijani flag patches, went viral on social media.
"This has been a childhood dream for me," Bayraktar told reporters after the flight.
Turkey's drones first attracted attention in 2019 when they were used during the war in Libya to thwart an advance by rebel commander, General Khalifa Haftar, against the government in Tripoli.
They were then again put into action the following year when Turkey-backed Azerbaijan in recapturing most of the land it lost to separatist Armenian forces in the disputed Nagorno-Karabakh region.
Azerbaijani audience members at the aviation festival applauded during a display of TB2 drones, which are now playing a prominent role against invading Russian forces in Ukraine.
A senior official from the Turkish defence industry said his country was facing a wide spectrum of "threats", including the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) and Islamic State group jihadists.
The PKK is listed as a terror group by Ankara and its Western allies.
Turkey shows off drones at air show
FE Team | Published: May 28, 2022 22:00:45
Turkey shows off drones at air show
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