Aircraft carriers, fighter jets, drones and attack helicopters: the Turkish arms industry is currently experiencing a real boom. The companies export to 170 countries around the world – and the industry wants to continue to grow.
The Baykar company’s Istanbul location resembles a university campus: young people, some in casual, baggy looks, ultra-modern buildings and open offices behind glass walls, in a hall two young men play table tennis during their break. The average age of the 4,000 employees is 29 years. But the mood isn’t quite as casual as it seems: no recordings, no interviews is the clear message. And once you get to the yard where there is a real drone, it becomes clear once again why: Baykar is one of Turkey’s top defense companies.
In a hip advertising film, Baykar presents one of its top models – the Bayraktar drone, which Ukraine uses against Russia, for example.
Young people straight from university
At TAI in Ankara, the boss Temel Kotil in particular is much more open-minded. He is incredibly proud of his team, which is also quite young. “My team really works day and night,” he praises. “To support them, I serve them baklava, a sweet treat, because they work so much overtime.”
Around 15,000 employees, almost half of them engineers, build helicopters, airplanes and drones – also for military purposes. TAI acquires young talent directly from the universities with which the company cooperates. There is no other way to cover the high staffing requirements, says the company boss.
On the republic’s 100th birthday, Turkey proudly presented its first aircraft carrier at a parade in the Bosphorus.
The young engineers are likely to earn significantly more than at many other companies in Turkey, where many stay under 1,000 euros. However, neither TAI nor Baykar nor other defense companies provide any figures. The motivation comes from somewhere else, says Kotil. One of his young employees told him at the company barbecue that he was here because he wanted to protect his grandchildren. “He’s young, he doesn’t have any grandchildren yet, maybe he’s not even married yet. But he is counting on the defense projects to protect them.” Young people are well aware of what is happening in this world. “And in 50 years this world will probably not be any safer than it is today.”
Keep growing, export more
TAI not only wants to grow, but also export more, like other Turkish defense companies. According to industry information, Turkey exports to 170 countries, including Germany, Saudi Arabia and Qatar.
For example, the head of the defense company STM in Ankara, Özgür Güleryüz, does not reveal whether Lebanon is also receiving military equipment – i.e. whether deliveries are currently being made to crisis areas such as the Middle East – and refers to the government. “We deliver our systems to our customers. For example, we introduced the Kargu drone to the Turkish armed forces in 2018,” he explains. “We have now exported them to ten countries around the world. But I don’t know whether they are currently using them.”
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Well equipped to stay away from wars
However, the Ministry of Industry and Technology is also keeping a low profile. No information on the exclusion criteria for arms exports. Here too, Deputy Minister Ahmed Yozgatligil cites the goal: to export as many of Turkey’s first-class military equipment as possible to as many countries as possible. He doesn’t believe that this could endanger his own security: “We want to help our allies. Defense technology should be used for peaceful purposes. You should be strong in order to stay away from wars.”
At the flagship company Baykar, the press spokesman points to an empty area on the company premises in Istanbul. A school is being built here in cooperation with the Ministry of Education. Baykar wants contact with the very young talents. Twelve-year-olds already come here now and then to try out scientific projects, says the press spokesman proudly. The bookshelves in the hall with the table tennis table contain the appropriate literature: almost exclusively books about the Ottoman Empire.