Malian president awards Turkish drone innovators with ‘National Order’

Malian President Assimi Goita awarded Turkish drone magnate Baykar’s general manager, Haluk Bayaraktar, and chief technology officer Selçuk Bayraktar along with other two members of their team the country’s “National Order” for their contributions and services to Mali.

The medal was presented to Haluk Bayraktar by Goita at the ceremony held at the Presidential Palace in Bamako, the capital of Mali.

At the ceremony, Bayraktar was thanked for his contributions to Mali.

The Mali National Order, the country’s highest decoration, began being awarded to individuals who made significant contributions to the country after Mali was liberated from French colonialism in 1960.

“We were honored to be deemed worthy of this meaningful engagement in order to strengthen the friendship and cooperation between Türkiye and Mali,” Haluk Bayraktar said in a post on X, formerly Twitter.

Bayraktar brothers had previously been awarded various medals in Ukraine, Azerbaijan and Burkina Faso.

They were deemed worthy of the Ukrainian State Order of Merit by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy for their significant contributions to strengthening interstate cooperation and supporting the territorial integrity of Ukraine.

Selçuk and Haluk Bayraktar, and the late Özdemir Bayraktar were also awarded the “Karabakh Order” by Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev in 2021 for the contribution of Bayraktar TB2 UCAVs, developed domestically by Baykar, in the liberation of Karabakh from Armenian occupation.

Baykar’s famed TB2 drones have been exported to dozens of countries to date, while the company is currently developing a medium-altitude long-endurance unmanned combat aerial vehicle (UCAV) – TB3, expected to be able to stay in the air longer, ascend to higher altitudes and carry more weapons than the TB2.

The vehicle successfully completed its first take-off roll test last week and once all tests are completed, is expected to be available firstly to the domestic market, according to the company.