Did Mali offer the Russian private security company Wagner to buy Turkish Bayraktar TB2 drones in its place? In any case, this is what some American intelligence documents that were leaked last week claim.
THE washington post, an American daily, which was able to access these documents, disclosed last week, claims that Russian mercenaries approached Turkey in order to buy Bayraktar TB2 drones from it. Being a member of NATO, this transaction is proving complicated for Ankara.
unlikely scenario
According to the documents consulted by the washington post, Mali would therefore have offered to buy drones for Wagner. A rather improbable scenario according to Jean Marcou, professor at Sciences Po Grenoble, associate researcher at the French Institute for Anatolian Studies in Istanbul, who responds to Gaelle Laleix : “ Turkey is a member of NATO, but also in recent years has developed close relations with Russia. But since condemning Russia’s annexation of Crimea, Turkey has also had close relations with Ukraine. So much so that it now manufactures, in joint venture, drones with Ukraine. »
” Hard to believe »
” So this supply of drones by Turkey to Wagner, including via Mali, of drones that could be used not only in Africa, but also on other fronts, including Ukraine, still seems a bit hard to believe, continues Jean Marcou. Djibouti, Libya, Morocco, also Nigeria, Somalia, Togo, and even Tunisia, bought drones from Ankara. So at present, Turkey has no problem disposing of its drones. She is not really looking for customers, rather buyers are looking for Turkish drones. In any case, this scenario seems a little hard to believe. »
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