Turkish, Malaysian leaders visit UAV manufacturer

ISTANBUL

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Muhammed toured the facilities of Turkish unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) manufacturer Baykar in Istanbul on Saturday.

Erdogan earlier met with Mahathir in Istanbul over breakfast at the Vahdettin Pavilion in Uskudar district, accompanied by First Ladies of the two countries, Emine Erdogan and Siti Hasmah Mohamad Ali.

After their breakfast the two leaders visited Baykar's facilities in Istanbul’s Hadimkoy district.

Erdogan and Mahathir were accompanied by Turkey's Industry and Technology Minister Mustafa Varank during their visit to Baykar, which was closed to press.

Before he left Turkey, Mahathir received Malaysian press members at Istanbul's Sabiha Gokcen Airport.

Mahathir's four-day visit to Turkey

Mahathir arrived in Turkey on July 24 at the invitation of Erdogan.

On Thursday, Mahathir paid a visit to Turkish engine maker TUSAS.

The Malaysian prime minister got information about Turkish defense industry and toured the facilities of TUSAS, also known as Turkish Aerospace Industries (TAI).

Mahathir also watched an airshow of unmanned air vehicles (Anka), helicopters (Atak) and planes (Hurkus) at TUSAS on the last leg of the visit.

In Thursday's joint news conference, Erdogan said that they discussed cooperation between Turkey and Malaysia as two D-8 members and strategic partners.

The Turkish president also presented Mahathir the Order of the State of the Republic of Turkey, the highest state order awarded to foreign nationals.

*Writing by Zehra Nur Duz