In armed conflicts, each new weapon or technique introduced typically elicits a countermeasure or new move by the opposing side. Such action-reaction cycles can sometimes escalate clashes to levels both sides come to regret. This is the current situation involving Ankara and the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) and between the Islamic State (IS) and the international coalition confronting it.

As noted Sept. 12 in Al-Monitor, in “Ankara hardening anti-PKK strategy,” the Turkish government, confident in its declaration of a state of emergency and experience gained in its struggle against the Gulen movement, has settled on a strategy of total liquidation of the PKK to the exclusion of attempts at deterrence. In this regard, Ankara last month introduced on the battlefield the Turkish-made medium-altitude, long-endurance Bayraktar TB2 armed unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV). The drone's manufacturer, Baykar Makina, is owned by President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s son-in-law Selcuk Bayraktar.

According to announcements by the Turkish Armed Forces (TSK), the Bayraktar UAVs killed 18 PKK militants in their first three operations in the rural terrain of Cukurca, in Hakkari province. Media reports said that during Oct. 1-10, when clashes were particularly heavy, about 90 (or 27%) of the 330 PKK fighters killed were hit using Bayraktar TB2s. Currently, the TSK is operating 12 TB2 UAVs in southeast Turkey and also in Operation Euphrates Shield in northern Syria.

The Bayraktar TB2 can climb to 24,000 feet, stay in the air for 24 hours, can receive commands from some 93 miles and is armed with MAM-L laser-guided missiles manufactured by Roketsan, another Turkish company. Because the Bayraktar TB2 enables target acquisition and firing from some 4 miles away, it is a more effective weapons system in counterterror operations than warplanes and assault helicopters, which take time to reach the combat zone and acquire targets. TB2s are also actively being used for close quarters security of critical battalion bases. PKK fighters approaching these permanently stationed units or moving along infiltration routes have now become easy prey for the TB2.