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Bayraktars Over Cairo: Why Turkey Might Sell Egypt Military Drones After Normalization
Paul Iddon
Contributor
Apr 22, 2023,08:25am EDT
Turkey and Egypt could soon normalize diplomatic relations following a political rift that has lasted just under a decade. While Ankara and Cairo will continue to have fundamental disagreements on various issues, such as Libya, a political reconciliation could ultimately lead to the latter selling the former military hardware, especially armed drones.
Relations between Egypt and Turkey became severely strained following the July 2013 coup in Cairo, which deposed the short-lived, democratically-elected government of President Mohamed Morsi. Egypt’s current president, Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, led that coup in his former capacity as Egypt’s army chief and subsequently became president. Turkey briefly had high hopes that it could strengthen ties with Egypt under Morsi’s Muslim Brotherhood government since that government shared a similar Islamist outlook to the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) in Turkey.
During Morsi’s short time in power, Egypt planned to buy ten Anka military drones from Turkey. None were ultimately delivered, most likely due to the coup and Turkey’s strong condemnation of Sisi.
Turkey’s drone industry took off in the intervening years, with the Bayraktar TB2 drone sought after by just under 30 countries worldwide. The drone also faced off against Egyptian-backed forces during Libya’s civil war, irking Cairo, which hinted it might intervene directly in Libya if the Turkish-backed forces advanced any further in mid-2020.
Now that Turkey and Egypt could soon repair relations, following in the footsteps of several regional rivals agreeing to rapprochements, Cairo may buy the TB2.
SAHA EXPO Defense, Aviation and Space Industry Fair in Istanbul
ISTANBUL, TURKIYE - OCTOBER 26: Tactical Armed /[+]
ANADOLU AGENCY VIA GETTY IMAGES
Analysts have speculated that restored diplomatic relations could lead to defense deals but cautioned that could be a long way down the road.
Turkey could offer Egypt drones because it has already sold them to one of Cairo’s rivals.
There is already an informative precedent for this.
Turkey’s sale of TB2 drones to Ethiopia in 2021 almost derailed early attempts to restore relations with Egypt. Ankara sold Addis Ababa the drones amidst the North African nation’s standoff with Egypt over the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) and its internal conflict against separatist rebels in the Tigray region. TB2 drones, operated alongside Chinese and Iranian drones, reportedly played a significant role in the Tigray War’s outcome.
Ethiopia wasn’t the only African country at odds with its neighbor that Turkey sold armed drones. Morocco also purchased an estimated 13 TB2s that same year. Algeria accused it of using them in a shadowy November 2021 drone strike that killed three of its citizens in the disputed Western Sahara region.
Ankara insisted it wasn’t taking sides in Algeria’s dispute with its western neighbor by selling Morocco drones, telling Algiers it could also buy Turkish drones. Consequently, Algeria purchased 10 Turkish Anka-S armed drones. Unlike the TB2, produced by the private company Baykar run by Turkish President Recep Erdogan’s son-in-law, the Anka drones are produced by the state-owned Turkish Aerospace Industries (TAI).
Ankara may similarly offer Cairo the TB2 or other drones it has available for export in an effort to demonstrate its neutrality in the GERD dispute. Egypt is interested in developing its drone industry and may have an interest in joint production that could include significant technology transfers.
In the Libyan civil war, the United Arab Emirates was on the same side as Egypt against Turkey and its ally in Tripoli. It even used its Chinese-built Wing Loong II drones for attacks against the Libyan capital. Since patching up ties with Turkey in 2021, Abu Dhabi ordered 120 TB2 drones for an estimated $2 billion. There has also been talk of establishing a Baykar factory on Emirati soil for local production.
While it’s presently not known if Egypt is interested in eventually acquiring TB2s or other Turkish drones, these precedents show that it’s certainly possible, if not highly likely.
Source-Forbes
Paul Iddon
Contributor
Apr 22, 2023,08:25am EDT
Turkey and Egypt could soon normalize diplomatic relations following a political rift that has lasted just under a decade. While Ankara and Cairo will continue to have fundamental disagreements on various issues, such as Libya, a political reconciliation could ultimately lead to the latter selling the former military hardware, especially armed drones.
Relations between Egypt and Turkey became severely strained following the July 2013 coup in Cairo, which deposed the short-lived, democratically-elected government of President Mohamed Morsi. Egypt’s current president, Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, led that coup in his former capacity as Egypt’s army chief and subsequently became president. Turkey briefly had high hopes that it could strengthen ties with Egypt under Morsi’s Muslim Brotherhood government since that government shared a similar Islamist outlook to the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) in Turkey.
During Morsi’s short time in power, Egypt planned to buy ten Anka military drones from Turkey. None were ultimately delivered, most likely due to the coup and Turkey’s strong condemnation of Sisi.
Turkey’s drone industry took off in the intervening years, with the Bayraktar TB2 drone sought after by just under 30 countries worldwide. The drone also faced off against Egyptian-backed forces during Libya’s civil war, irking Cairo, which hinted it might intervene directly in Libya if the Turkish-backed forces advanced any further in mid-2020.
Now that Turkey and Egypt could soon repair relations, following in the footsteps of several regional rivals agreeing to rapprochements, Cairo may buy the TB2.
SAHA EXPO Defense, Aviation and Space Industry Fair in Istanbul
ISTANBUL, TURKIYE - OCTOBER 26: Tactical Armed /[+]
ANADOLU AGENCY VIA GETTY IMAGES
Analysts have speculated that restored diplomatic relations could lead to defense deals but cautioned that could be a long way down the road.
Turkey could offer Egypt drones because it has already sold them to one of Cairo’s rivals.
There is already an informative precedent for this.
Turkey’s sale of TB2 drones to Ethiopia in 2021 almost derailed early attempts to restore relations with Egypt. Ankara sold Addis Ababa the drones amidst the North African nation’s standoff with Egypt over the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) and its internal conflict against separatist rebels in the Tigray region. TB2 drones, operated alongside Chinese and Iranian drones, reportedly played a significant role in the Tigray War’s outcome.
Ethiopia wasn’t the only African country at odds with its neighbor that Turkey sold armed drones. Morocco also purchased an estimated 13 TB2s that same year. Algeria accused it of using them in a shadowy November 2021 drone strike that killed three of its citizens in the disputed Western Sahara region.
Ankara insisted it wasn’t taking sides in Algeria’s dispute with its western neighbor by selling Morocco drones, telling Algiers it could also buy Turkish drones. Consequently, Algeria purchased 10 Turkish Anka-S armed drones. Unlike the TB2, produced by the private company Baykar run by Turkish President Recep Erdogan’s son-in-law, the Anka drones are produced by the state-owned Turkish Aerospace Industries (TAI).
Ankara may similarly offer Cairo the TB2 or other drones it has available for export in an effort to demonstrate its neutrality in the GERD dispute. Egypt is interested in developing its drone industry and may have an interest in joint production that could include significant technology transfers.
In the Libyan civil war, the United Arab Emirates was on the same side as Egypt against Turkey and its ally in Tripoli. It even used its Chinese-built Wing Loong II drones for attacks against the Libyan capital. Since patching up ties with Turkey in 2021, Abu Dhabi ordered 120 TB2 drones for an estimated $2 billion. There has also been talk of establishing a Baykar factory on Emirati soil for local production.
While it’s presently not known if Egypt is interested in eventually acquiring TB2s or other Turkish drones, these precedents show that it’s certainly possible, if not highly likely.
Source-Forbes
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Two Moroccan Air Force C-130 cargo planes (RMAF208 and RMAF 209) took off this morning from Istanbul for Morocco. Last month one Moroccan C-130 landed in istanbul aswell so 3 flights in total within a month.
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We will soon sell it to Greece at this rate.
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Biggest mistake to trust the Egyptians at this point
As long as the military rules Egypt, its loyalty will always be to their masters and whom their lifeline depends on; i-e، the French-USA axis...... period!
Pure speculation and highly unlikely.
F-6 enthusiast
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why go through all the financial and technical trouble to integrate SOM to something foreign , when it might be easier to just get a platform that can launch SOMs (Akinci)
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One more Moroccan C-130 landing in Istanbul in few minutes. Definitely, a good deal was made
@Cabatli_TR
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Kirpi and tb2 became brands all over the world.There is almost no battlefield where they are not present.
Tornadoss
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Are these guys fighting against the Gulf coalition or together?
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As I understand it, STC is basically a UAE puppet controlling Aden and Southern part of Yemen. Must be part of the sale with TB2s.
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The Southern Transitional Council (STC; Arabic: المجلس الانتقالي الجنوبي al-Majlis al-Intiqālī l-Janūbiyy) is a secessionist organization in South Yemen.
The UAE helped create the SBF in southern Yemen. Since its formation, the SBF has played a crucial role in the Saudi-led coalition before the recent escalation.
Its successes came in part due to being militarily backed by the UAE. The backing included training of SBF fighters in Abu Dhabi and the supply of military equipment. Emirati backing was crucial in helping the STC gain Aden, which has been under its control since 2018.
Southern Transitional Council - Wikipedia
Its not the internationally recognized government of Yemen. Selling into conflict regions is one thing, but what message does it give that Turkish products land in the hands of secessionists?
Pretty sure that UAE has supplied them. No way that we would officially approve such a sale or neither do they have the funds I assume.
Baryshx
Contributor
Exactly, we are getting closer with Egypt, what about our relationship with Ethiopia? With these imamhatip dropout political Islamists, the country cannot go anywhere, cannot develop. Akp has brought the country to this position in terms of politics, foreign policy and economy.
Ryder
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Uae is destroying sudan by backing the rsf.
Such a dumb mistake to normalise with these snakes.
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dealing with them is exhausting.We shouldn't use our energy with them.
