NEWS CENTER – An article by Matthias Monroy on the netzpolitik.org homepage highlighted the cooperation between the occupying Turkish state and Ukraine in relation to the Bayraktar TB2 drone. After the United States USA and Israel made a name for themselves with their own drone production and corresponding targeted killings with this weapon in violation of international law, the Turkish occupying state also began in 2014 to provide technical support from abroad (German companies are particularly emphasized here) of their own to produce drones and to murder Kurds with drone attacks that violate international law.
THE POLICY OF TARGETED KILLING
After the turn of the millennium, the United States and Israel were the only countries in the world producing armed drones and using them to carry out attacks. According to international humanitarian law, armed drones may only be used in the context of a war or an international armed conflict (there are different interpretations of this). Despite this, the US military, the CIA, as well as the British and Israeli air forces made a name for themselves with the use of armed drones and the policy of “targeted killings”. They set new standards in the illegal use of unmanned systems. Despite legal standards, the USA, Great Britain and Israel continued to pursue such extrajudicial executions and carried them out in Afghanistan, Iraq, Yemen, Syria or Gaza.
This is also the orientation of the fascist AKP regime, which, while the IS gangs attacked Shengal and Rojava in 2014 with the support of the fascist AKP regime, started producing the TB2 combat drone in order to give the fascist regime’s perfidious plans even more strength to lend. Since then, the Turkish occupying army has relied on the TB2 in the war against the Kurds and is responsible for massive damage to people, nature and the environment.
ATTACKS ON CIVILIANS FOR SELF DEFENSE?
According to the Rojava Information Center (RIC), 78 armed drone attacks on the autonomous region of north-eastern Syria were carried out by the Turkish occupying army this year alone. On August 18, four young women who were staying in a girls’ education center died in such an attack. Another girl died three weeks later as a result of her injuries. The Community Peacemaker Team explained that since 2015, the occupying Turkish army in Iraq has killed around 129 civilians using armed drones and injured 180 others. In July, armed drones from the occupying Turkish state attacked Arab tourists in a leisure area and 8 people were murdered. This attack triggered major protests among the Arab population in Iraq, which is why Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi criticized this attack as a blatant violation of the country’s sovereignty. It can be assumed that the number of people injured and killed by Turkish drone attacks in Iraq, southern Kurdistan and north-eastern Syria is far higher than stated by both organizations. This also includes the ambiguity as to whether the spying out of possible targets by unarmed drones, which mark their targets with lasers and are later shot at by fighter jets or artillery, also counts. that the number of injured and dead from Turkish drone strikes in Iraq, southern Kurdistan and north-eastern Syria is far higher than stated by both organizations. This also includes the ambiguity as to whether the spying out of possible targets by unarmed drones, which mark their targets with lasers and are later shot at by fighter jets or artillery, also counts. that the number of injured and dead from Turkish drone strikes in Iraq, southern Kurdistan and north-eastern Syria is far higher than stated by both organizations. This also includes the ambiguity as to whether the spying out of possible targets by unarmed drones, which mark their targets with lasers and are later shot at by fighter jets or artillery, also counts.
The fascist AKP-MHP government justifies its illegal attacks with its fight against the freedom movement PKK and its so-called right to “self-defense”. However, these attacks clearly show that the targeted murder of the civilian population, such as tourists and children, has nothing to do with the PKK or with so-called self-defence.
Nevertheless, the Turkish occupying state can continue to rely on the approval of the KDP government and Prime Minister Masrur Barzani while they implement an illegal occupation invasion against the areas in southern Kurdistan and continue to act against the areas with drones and chemical weapons, as well as tactical nuclear weapons.
TB2 GENOCIDE WEAPON BECAME A MEDIA CULT OBJECT BY UKRAINE
The Bayrakter TB2 made a name for itself as a murder weapon during the invasion operation on Afrin, in north-eastern Syria, and became even better known as a genocidal weapon in the war against minorities during the Azerbaijani war of aggression against Armenian Artsakh. After the war of the fascist AKP-MHP government against the Kurdish regions caused an economic crisis and the Turkish occupying army suffered severe losses during various attempts to occupy the guerrilla resistance areas, Turkey needed successes that it could present to the international public as well as its own .
With the Bayraktar TB2, Turkey can re-establish itself, with the drone missions in Libya, Artsakh and Ukraine, the drone ensured military success and was considered a “game changer”, Turkey established itself on the international market in the field of unmanned systems as armaments – and military power. Already at the beginning of the war, the Ukrainian military relied on the example of Azerbaijan and distributed videos of the shelling of the enemy troops on digital media platforms and used the psychological influence on the demoralization of the enemy troops.
TURKISH-UKRAINIAN FRIENDSHIP – FREE DRONE FROM MAKINA
At the beginning of the war, the Bayraktar TB2 enjoyed cult status in the Ukraine and was considered the decisive weapon against the Russian army. Ukrainian nationalists dedicated a song to this genocidal weapon, and fundraisers were launched in Lithuania, Norway, Poland and Canada to help Ukraine buy more drones. Baykar Makina then decided to supply an additional combat drone for free.
Ukraine received the first shipment of this drone last year and has made great achievements early in the war, such as Ukraine’s recapture of Snake Island. Last Friday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy presented the CEO of the Turkish arms company Baykar Makina with the “Order of Merit, First Class” and the award to Haluk Bayraktar, the brother of the Turkish businessman Selçuk Bayraktar.
AFTER PROPAGANDA, PROFIT GROWS
The media attention in the war against Russia gave the occupying Turkish state good advertising for its own armaments production. According to the armaments company Bayraktar, contracts for the delivery of the TB2 have already been concluded with 24 countries. Among the countries are Qatar, Kyrgyzstan, Turkmenistan, Pakistan, Somalia, Morocco and most recently Serbia. But NATO countries have also started to buy the drone. Poland, as a member of NATO, first ordered 24 TB2 drones, and Romania is also planning to purchase 18 drones, which still have to be approved by parliament.
The fact that Turkey, as a NATO member, takes the liberty of selling this weapon to states that are criticized by the UN and NATO is only one side of the coin. Since Turkey has gotten into a severe economic crisis due to the war policy of the fascist AKP-MHP regime, they are desperately dependent on such export deals. Thus, it is also clear that the countries that purchase these weapons, which are produced by the Bayraktar armaments company, whose owner belongs to the Erdogan family, are financing the fascist regime in Turkey and fueling the ongoing war and genocide.
In the drone business, Turkey is therefore an “undisputed newcomer”, whose military flies, among other things, the weapon-capable Anka. It is manufactured by Turkish Aerospace Industries (TAI) and can be controlled via satellites. However, the Turkish export hit is and remains the TB2, with which the Turkish military has flown attacks at home and abroad that violate international law since 2014, with the knowledge of the public. In addition to the media propaganda that the murderous product enjoys through Ukraine, the drone is only half the size of the models from Israel and the USA and considerably cheaper. A TB2 costs two million.
PRODUCTION PLANNED IN UKRAINE
After so many orders, only a few states have received the drones, because Baykar’s production capacity is limited to 20 units per month. In view of the high demand for the TB2, Baykar wants to double production in the coming year. Ukraine should now help with this. At the award ceremony, Zelenskyj and Bayraktar discussed opening a plant in Ukraine to assemble the TB2 there.
GERMANY HELPS WHERE IT CAN WITH THE PRODUCTION OF THE TB2
At the beginning of the production of the drone industry in Turkey, important technical components had to be imported from abroad. Not only engines, but also motors and sensor modules came from abroad. After the Austrian company Rotax stopped supplying the engines after supporting the Azerbaijani war of aggression two years ago, the Canadian manufacturer Wescam also stopped supplying sensor modules with integrated optical and infrared-based cameras and laser technology due to the government’s export ban in Ottawa.
This sensor module is the heart of a drone and stands and falls with its equipment and quality. The German Hensoldt-Konsern, which specializes in sensor technology, filled the resulting gap with its ARGOS-II module. Since this module is manufactured by the Hensoldt subsidiary Optronics Pty in South Africa, there were no problems with the German export control regulations.
The TB2’s laser-guided missiles were also developed with German help. Since 2010, the German Foreign Ministry has issued export licenses for a handful of light warheads and the equipment used to manufacture them. They may have served as a template for the development of Turkey’s own micro-precision ammunition. The rocket technology comes from the company TDW Wirksysteme GmbH from Schrobenhausen, Bavaria, a branch of the European rocket manufacturer MBDA, the sales were presumably to the Turkish state-owned armaments company Roketsan.
PRODUCTION OF THE KIZILELMA UNMANNED WAR PLANE
But that’s not all, the Baykars company has developed a long-range drone with two powerful engines under the name Akıncı (robber), which can carry almost a ton of ammunition. The first copies were handed over to the Turkish air force and army a year ago in the presence of AKP fascist Erdoğan, and the military is said to have around 20 copies in the meantime. Originally, the engines for the Akıncı were to be manufactured in Ukraine, but the war that was taking place there thwarted these plans.
In addition, Baykar is working on the development of the unmanned combat aircraft Kızılelma (“Red Apple”), which is to fly for the first time next year with state support. This warplane is stealth capable and is said to be able to perform a variety of military actions.
According to current plans, this UAV will be based on the aircraft carrier TCG Anadolu. The Kızılelma would thus replace the US F35 fighter jet, which was supposed to be procured for the Turkish Air Force but was excluded from the program by Washington after Erdogan announced the purchase of Russian anti-aircraft missiles.
The Kızılelma is also to be used in the Turkish Navy with up to 50 TB systems on an aircraft carrier. For this purpose, Baykar Makine developed the TB3 version of the Bayraktar, which can be parked on the Anadolu to save space with folding wings. This would make Turkey the first country in the world to equip an aircraft carrier with combat drones.
