Turkish UAV maker Baykar’s exports put executives at top of taxpayers list

The success of Baykar, one of Türkiye’s leading defense firms, in unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) exports has propelled its executives to the top of the country’s income taxpayers list for the fourth consecutive year.

Türkiye’s Revenue Administration announced that Baykar Chairman Selcuk Bayraktar and CEO Haluk Bayraktar were the country’s top taxpayers based on an evaluation of annual income tax returns in 2024.

This makes Selcuk and Haluk Bayraktar Türkiye's top income tax payers for the past four consecutive years.

In 2024, Selcuk Bayraktar paid 2.76 billion Turkish liras ($84 million) in income tax, while Haluk Bayraktar paid 2.53 billion liras ($77 million).

The amount of tax paid by the Bayraktars has risen approximately 18-fold since 2021, fueled by Baykar's soaring export revenues.

The tax paid by Baykar executives Selcuk Bayraktar and Haluk Bayraktar in 2024 was determined according to Baykar's profits in 2023 after corporate and income taxes were deducted based on profit distribution.

- Resources put into technology and investment

Since its founding, Baykar has financed all projects with its own resources and has not received any cash incentives or grants from the state.

The company advances all research and development (R&D) projects and production through converting its earned income into investment, without acquiring bank loans.

Baykar also conducts its R&D without government order guarantees or development subsidies from the state or any other institution. There is no similar example of R&D conducted under this model in the global defense industry.

Baykar, which ranks among the world's leading technology developers, has a future vision centered on investing in new fields of high technology, including space projects.

Since the start of its R&D activities in 2003, over the past 22 years, Baykar has generated 83% of its total revenue from exports.

- Export share reaches 90%

As the world's largest UAV manufacturer, Baykar has emerged as Türkiye's top exporter in the defense and aviation sectors over the past four years.

Baykar has signed export agreements with 36 countries for its UAVs—including 35 countries for the Bayraktar TB2 and 15 countries for the Bayraktar AKINCI.

It achieved $664 million in exports in 2021; this figure rose to $1.2 billion in 2022 and $1.8 billion in 2023.

Baykar continued its global success in 2024, generating 90% of its revenue from exports and achieving $1.8 billion in overseas sales.

The company ranked among the top 10 exporters across all sectors in Türkiye in 2023 and 2024—and received the Export Champions Award—and has been the leader in exports in the defense and aviation sector every year since 2021, according to data from the Secretariat of Defense Industries and the Turkish Exporters Assembly.

Baykar, which accounted for one-third of the sector's exports in 2023, was also responsible for one-quarter of the defense and aviation sector’s total exports in 2024, positioning Türkiye as a leader in the global UAV export market.

It employs approximately 7,500 staff in its domestic and international operations.