Turkey claimed on 26 September that Malaysia and Indonesia have expressed an interest in buying armed drones from Turkish defense firm Baykar, which has supplied weapons to several countries after battlefield successes.

“Many Asian countries, especially Malaysia and Indonesia, show great interest in our defense industry products. Agreements are being signed,” Turkish foreign minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said at a press conference in Tokyo.

Cavusoglu also affirmed that Ankara would meet Japan’s need for drones.

International demand for Ankara’s drones skyrocketed after being present in several combat zones, such as Syria, Ukraine, and Libya, proving their effectiveness.

Last week, Reuters reported that Baykar delivered 20 armed drones to the UAE this month.

The UAE and Turkey have begun salvaging diplomatic ties with one another this year, following year-long hostilities over disagreements relating to the future of Libya, Ankara’s support of armed groups in Syria, and its close ties to Qatar, a regional rival of the UAE.

An unidentified source claims Abu Dhabi and Riyadh have been negotiating to acquire Bayraktar TB2 drones from Ankara. “They decided during the negotiations with the UAE to quickly deliver 20 armed drones,” the source said, adding that they were transferred earlier this month.

Last month, it was announced that Baykar is in the process of constructing a factory on Ukrainian territory to produce attack drones.

Bodnar said the Turkish drones are “already a legend of the [Ukrainian] resistance,” as they are one of the weapons used to try and slow the Russian advances.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov warned late last year that Turkish drones would have a “destabilizing” impact on the region.

Turkish armed forces have used these drones to target Kurdish armed groups in Syria and Iraq in the past year, killing civilians in the process. In April, Ankara carried out drone strikes in Iraq, targeting a camp belonging to the Popular Mobilization Units (PMU).

Iraqi Ministry spokesman Ahmed al-Sahaf said that Baghdad “strongly condemned” the Turkish military offensive, and described it as a violation of its sovereignty and national integrity.

Turkish forces have already come under fire on a number of occasions for their illegal military presence in Iraq.