Anniversary of the departure of the Turkish engineer “Ozdemir Bayraktar”

These days coincide with the anniversary of the departure of the Turkish engineer “Ozdemir Bayraktar”, Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Turkish “Baykar” Defense Industries Company, known as the “pioneer” of the Turkish marches, and her father, who died on October 18, 2021 after a struggle with illness.

Ozdemir Bayraktar is the father of Selcuk Bayraktar, the technical director of the company and the engineer of the drones, Akinci and Bayraktar.

Turkish engineer “Ozdemir Bayraktar”, Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Turkish “Baykar” Defense Industries Company, devoted his life to the complete independence of Turkey in the field of defense industries.

The success story of the “Baykar” company was added to the history of the Turkish defense industry, which was halted 65 years due to the American Marshall Plan and Project in the 1940s.

Ozdemir Bayraktar followed in the footsteps of Turkish patriots who aspired to make Turkey a leader in the defense industry, such as Şakir Zomre, the first founder of the arms factory in the Turkish Republic, and Nuri Demirag, who established the first aircraft factory in Turkey.

Although Bayraktar faced many obstacles along the way of his struggle, he did not give up and worked as a technical director in the industrial sector in Turkey and contributed to the establishment of many factories that played a leading role in the Turkish industrial sector such as “Ozel” and “Burder Tractor” and Istanbul Sigman and others.

Bayraktar also established the “Bayraktar Baykar Makina” company in 1984 with the aim of contributing to reducing the import of cars into Turkey.

In the same context, “Ozdemir Bayraktar” played a leading role in developing the national Turkish drone technology with his son, engineer Selcuk Bayraktar, from the design stage to the prototype stage and from the manufacturing stage to investment planning.

The Bayraktar Mini drone was the first aircraft produced and developed by Baykar for the Turkish Air Force.

Özdemir Bayraktar was at the head of research and development that was carried out with Turkish soldiers in southeastern Anatolia between 2005 and 2009.

Bayraktar also played a leading role in developing the technology of home-made unmanned aerial vehicles, as he worked on the design and development of local Turkish products, such as the “Bayraktar TB2” and the “Bayraktar Akanci” combat drone.

And the Turkish company “Baykar” announced last year the news of his death, as the company’s director, “Khuluq Bayraktar”, posted on his official account on the “Twitter” social networking site a “tweet”, in which he said: “Our father Ozdemir Bayraktar is our source of inspiration under the protection of God. He was one of those who devoted their lives For research and production, may God have mercy on him.

The technical director of the company, Selcuk Bayraktar, also mourned his father, saying: “My father, my soul, my guide and companion of the call, who devoted his life, health and wealth to the independence of his people, passed away.”

In turn, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan expressed his condolences on the death of Baykar Board Chairman Ozdemir Bayraktar in a tweet on his official Twitter account, in which he said: “I offer my deepest condolences on the death of my dear friend Ozdemir Bayraktar, Chairman of Baykar, who led the national technology movement with his dreams, efforts and struggle. Bayraktar’s services to the Turkish people will not be forgotten.