In 2022, Turkish arms exports exceeded $4 billion, which is about 36 percent more than a year ago. Moreover, 98 percent of the exports were the sale of Bayraktar drones. Turkish political scientist Irfan Kaya Ulger told Haqqin.az of Azerbaijan about this.

According to him, the military industry of Turkey has the potential to increase the production of combat drones and other weapons with geometrical progression.

The use of Bayraktar drones during the military aggression against Nagorno-Karabakh in 2020 was important for the development of the Turkish military industry.

"On the one hand, Ankara provided strong assistance to fraternal Azerbaijan, on the other hand, tested [these drones] in combat conditions and demonstrated its military technology to the whole world," said Ulger. "Until recently, Turkey had certain difficulties in acquiring drones in the NATO arsenal. Those drones were delivered to Ankara either with many preconditions, or they were not delivered at all. But now the picture has changed dramatically, and Turkey has become one of the world's leading suppliers of combat and reconnaissance drones. The main buyers of Bayraktar are the countries of the Balkan Peninsula, Sudan, Libya, etc."

According to the political scientist, the success of these Turkish drones in the world arms market has played the role of a catalyst in the development of other sectors of Turkey’s military industry.

"And as for the export of arms, Turkey conducts a completely independent policy in that domain," Ulger said. “Turkey remains an important part of the North Atlantic Alliance, from which it unequivocally follows that Ankara will in no case sell weapons to those countries that threaten the security of NATO. First of all, it refers to the sale of arms to the CSTO member states—Russia, Belarus, Armenia—as well as to those countries that can pose a threat to the members of the North Atlantic Alliance to one degree or another. And, of course, to Iran."