Istanbul's Drone Bazaar Is Running Tomorrow's Proxy Wars
By Syed John
Garage factories near Baykar are shipping swarms faster than defense treaties can respond.
Walk a few blocks from Baykar's flagship plant and you'll stumble into alleys stacked with carbon-fiber wings, 3D-printed gimbals, and battery packs tuned for mountain warfare. Istanbul's drone bazaar has become the quiet supplier of half a dozen proxy conflicts, and it's operated by former scooter mechanics who now know more about munitions payloads than some colonels.
The genius isn't just hardware—it’s the ecosystem. Slovenian firmware devs ship patches overnight, Pakistani optics companies drop in night-vision modules, and Turkish logistics firms smuggle the kits into theaters where diplomacy failed. Deals close over tea, not through government RFPs.
States can sanction official exporters all they want; as long as this bazaar hums, cultures and conflicts will borrow airpower on subscription. In a world where sovereignty is sold by the kilo, Istanbul just became the Costco of deterrence.