Ethiopia awards Medal of Honour to Turkiye drone CEO Bayraktar

Ethiopia has awarded its Medal of Honour to the CEO of Turkish drone manufacturer, Baykar, for the significant role its notorious Bayraktar TB2 drones played in the East African nation’s civil war.

At the ceremony held in Ethiopia’s capital, Addis Ababa, last week, commemorating the Ethiopian Air Force’s 88th anniversary, Baykar’s CEO, Haluk Bayraktar, was presented the Medal of Honour by Ethiopia’s Chief of General Staff, Marshal Birhanu Jula, and Air Force Commander, Lieutenant –General, Yilma Merdasa.

The ceremony took place in the presence of Prime Minister, Abiy Ahmed Ali, and makes Bayraktar the first foreign national to receive Ethiopia’s highest national award.

Turkish aerospace company Baykar’s CEO Haluk Bayraktar was presented with the Medal of Honor of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia on the 88th anniversary of the establishment of the Ethiopian Air Force.

Bayraktar is the first foreigner to receive the Ethiopian Medal of… pic.twitter.com/ubyXFygnZo

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In 2021, when the East African nation was embroiled in its civil war between the government and the Tigray Defence Forces – rebels from Ethiopia’s disgruntled northern region – the Turkish Bayraktar TB2 drones reportedly turned the trajectory of the conflict in the government’s favour, preventing the rebels from taking the capital.

It was yet another point to be added onto the list of successes enjoyed by the Bayraktar drones and their Turkish manufacturers, with similar stories seen in other combat zones and conflict fronts, such as Libya, northern Syria, Azerbaijan’s Nagorno-Karabakh region and, in some capacity, Ukraine.

The success of Baykar’s drones in tested fields, their supplies to some struggling nations and their use in counter-terrorism operations has led to the CEO, Haluk Bayraktar, also being awarded various medals by Azerbaijan, Ukraine, Burkina Faso, Mali, Kyrgyzstan and Kosovo over the past few years.

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