Levent Kenez/Stockholm
The Turkish government's disregard for its international responsibility to prevent exported weapons from falling into the hands of unintended end users came under scrutiny at a meeting of the parliamentary committee on foreign affairs on 10 July.
Mustafa Murat Şeker, Deputy Chairman of the Presidency of Defense Industries (SSB), revealed procedures and tracking methods through which Turkey is taking steps to ensure the safety and compliance of its arms exports.
According to Şeker, if a Turkish company wants to export weapons, it must submit an application to the Ministry of Defense. The application must specify the product, the recipient country and the intended buyer. The ministry then consults the General Staff, the Foreign Ministry And the SSB to obtain their approvals.
The State Department is examining the political implications of the sale. For example, Turkey does not approve arms exports to India because of its close ties to Pakistan. Even during the Ukraine-Russia conflict, Turkey only allowed Ukraine to export defensive weapons, not offensive weapons. However, the Bayraktar drones, manufactured by President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's son-in-law Selçuk Bayraktar, appear to be exempt from this rule.
Mustafa Murat Seker, Deputy Chairman of the Turkish Defense Industry Presidency.
Once all necessary approvals are obtained, the Ministry of Defense and the General Staff will evaluate the military aspects of the transaction and examine how the arms sale will affect Turkey's military relations with the recipient country.
Şeker stressed that technology transfers and joint production agreements are also carefully examined. He noted that the level of sensitivity of the exported product plays a crucial role in the approval process. Simple items such as ballistic vests and helmets easily receive approvals, but more sensitive devices require detailed analysis.
One of the most interesting aspects of Turkey's export control measures is the use of GPS tracking and spyware. Şeker explained that highly sensitive products are equipped with GPS devices for location monitoring. This ensures that the Products remain with the intended recipient and are not resold to unauthorized third parties. In addition, some products are equipped with software that allows for further tracking and control.
Şeker also mentioned that these measures will be taken transparently and included in the agreements with the purchasing countries to ensure that all parties are aware of this the existing tracking and control measures.
Nordic Monitor previously reported that Turkey may have installed kill switches in the armed drones exported by Bayraktar, a revelation that echoes recent statements by İsmail Demir, the former head of the SSB. In an interview with a local TV channel on December 17, 2021, Demir stressed that Turkey ensures that its armed drone exports do not pose any risks domestically. He hinted that the presence of an emergency stop switch designed to remotely disable the drones if necessary. The Bayraktar drones have been exported to various countries, including Ukraine, Poland, Qatar, Libya, Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, Ethiopia and Azerbaijan, underscoring Turkey's robust arms export policy despite international scrutiny.
The Turkish President signs an armed drone of Bayraktar Akıncı, manufactured by his son-in-law's company, Baykar, in cooperation with the SSB, in Çorlu on August 26, 2021.
The groups to which Turkey has sold weapons and the areas in which they have been used have frequently made headlines around the world in recent years.
On October 21, 2023, a video shared by Hamas's armed wing, the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades, showed that one of the drones used in the October 7 attacks on Israeli targets was manufactured by the Istanbul-based Remzi Başbuğ Assuva Savunma Sanayi (Assuva Defense Industry). The propaganda video showed the simultaneous use of at least three Turkish drones. Assuva is owned by Remzi Başbuğ, a 46-year-old native of the central province of Nevşehir who has close ties to Erdogan, enjoys VIP treatment in government circles, and gains access to high-ranking officials.
Regarding Hamas' use of drones, Şeker explained the legal framework for exporting such technology. “First of all, I must stress that we have a legally controlled list, which means that not everything requires an export permit. If an item is not on this list, particularly small For drones and those without weapons, no permit may be required. This could explain the situation with the drones in question.”
Şeker further elaborated on the difficulty of controlling the technology. “You can order all the parts you need to build a kamikaze drone from Alibaba and assemble it at home. Unfortunately, this is the reality of the technological age we live in. Preventing this is very difficult. Anyone can order parts and build a drone, even armed ones, which highlights the broader problem. available.”
Şeker's comments could be interpreted as a justification for the fact that the drones allegedly used by Hamas do not require an explicit export permit under current regulations. They could also be interpreted as an attempt by President Erdogan's government to deny responsibility.
In this still from a video, Hamas fighters are seen preparing to use a Turkish drone for a bombing attack.
Turkish-Ethiopian military relations came onto the international agenda after the Ethiopian army attacked a primary school full of children, women and elderly men on January 7, 2022, using drones purchased from Turkey. At least 59 civilians were killed and dozens more injured. Up to this point of timeTurkey is not known to have sold drones to Ethiopia. The weapons remnants found at the site were MAM-LL (Smart Micro Munition) bombs manufactured by the Turkish company Roketsan and paired exclusively with Bayraktar drones. The Turkish embassy was reportedly relocated to Kenya for security reasons; however, the Turkish Foreign Ministry denied this, saying only the ambassador had temporarily left Ethiopia.
At a committee meeting, Kani Torun, former Turkish ambassador to Somalia and member of the Future Party (Gelecek), raised concerns about Turkey supplying UAVs and drones to Ethiopia amid the ongoing conflict in the region. In response, Hüseyin Duman, Director General of Technical Services at the Ministry of Defense, confirmed that Turkey had indeed approved the use of its drones in Ethiopia.
Damaged building in Tigray after an Ethiopian government airstrike on the Dedebit Primary School compound by an armed Turkish drone on January 7, 2022. (Photo: Human Rights Watch).
Turkey's sale of military drones to Ukraine led to tensions with Russia in October 2021. Ukrainian state television broadcast a video on October 23, 2021 showing the use of a Turkish-made military drone against Russian-backed forces in the eastern Donbass region.
The Kremlin said the following day that its fears about Turkey's decision to sell combat drones to Ukraine had come true and that the Turkish drones could destabilize the situation in eastern Ukraine.
Turkey, however, claimed it bore no responsibility for the use of the drones it sold. “If a country buys them from us, they are no longer Turkish,” then-Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu told reporters after meeting his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov at the G20 summit in Rome in November 2021.
“Perhaps Turkey produced it, but it belongs to Ukraine,” he said. Nevertheless, he called on Ukrainian authorities to stop referring to Turkish drones or Turkey when talking about drones.
Although Moscow has expressed unease over Turkey's continued drone sales to Ukraine following the Russian invasion in 2022, it has not escalated the issue to a flashpoint between the two countries. This reticence is largely due to Turkey's decision not to join Western sanctions and its role in circumventing the embargo against Russia.
Fuat Oktay, chairman of the parliamentary committee on foreign affairs, also argued in a meeting that the term “American F-16s that bombed” should not be used for American F-16 jets, just as the term “Turkish drones” should not be used for these drones.
Deputy Foreign Minister Burhanettin Duran claimed that the allegations against the Turkish arms industry were being deliberately made by competing countries in the market, stressing that the purchase contracts contained clear provisions that complied with international rules and standards.
Minutes of the parliamentary committee meeting:
Commission_tutanaklari (1) 11 July
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