The boss of Turkish drone manufacturer Baykar, who is considered by many to be among potential candidates to succeed Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan for the leadership of the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP), for the first time hinted at a possible entry into active politics.
Asked by a journalist at a technology event in Ankara whether he considered entering politics, Selcuk Bayraktar said on Friday:
“We will continue to struggle all the way to the end to achieve our ideal of a national technology leap. We will do whatever necessary. What this means is that if the struggle requires taking part in politics we will not give into any fear and step back.”
Bayraktar, the chairman of the board of drone manufacturer Baykar, is President Erdogan’s son-in-law.
He went on to say:
“Think of the struggle we’re currently engaged in. We are taking all sorts of risks in this struggle, aren’t we? Just imagine that our war planes are exported to many countries, that over 80% of the income of our manufacturing companies are coming from exports (…) Now, while we are engaged in such a fierce struggle, and even as our defense systems are already well known by the world… Think of the military campaign in Azerbaijan, remember the hostility they were subjected to because of that campaign. The campaign was carried out in Azerbaijani soil. Think of the legitimacy of that campaign, and they were still subjected to threats and embargoes because of a campaign they carried out in defense of their own soil.”
He added:
“Now, all these mean that we will not be intimidated and carry out the struggle in different platforms if necessary.”
Source: Gerçek News
