VILNIUS – Lithuanian and Turkish officials signed in Ankara on Wednesday an agreement paving the way for Vilnius to buy Bayraktar combat drones.
Lithuania is planning to purchase the unmanned aerial vehicle and other equipment with money donated by people in a fundraising campaign launched by Laisves TV and to hand it over to Ukraine, and is also considering buying a drone system for its armed forces.
Lithuanian Deputy Defense Minister Vilius Semeska and the head of the Turkish Defense Industry Agency signed a letter of intent on the acquisition of Turkish weapons.
“We have signed an agreement. This means a green light for further acquisitions at the political level,” Semeska told BNS.
The vice-minister is scheduled to meet with the chief executive officer of the Bayraktar manufacturing company on Thursday.
Semeska said on Wednesday that he had discussed with the Turkish agency’s head not only the acquisition of a Bayraktar with the money donated by the public, but also the possible acquisition of at least one drone system for the Lithuanian Armed Forces.
He said the system would consist of six drones and the necessary equipment to operate them.
Defense Minister Arvydas Anusauskas said on Tuesday that Lithuania was considering buying Bayraktar drones for its needs.
The Defense Ministry had previously announced plans to purchase US-made Switchblade combat drones.
According to Semeska, these plans are not contradictory.
“These are not alternatives to each other; Switchblade goes its own way,” he said. “It would be good for us to have several systems so as to get to know them and assess which ones are worth expanding.”
The campaign by Laisves TV, an Internet broadcaster founded by journalist and activist Andrius Tapinas, last week raised around 5.9 million euros to fund the acquisition of a Bayraktar for Ukraine.
“Tomorrow we will find out what we can buy with it,” Semeska said.
Ukraine has been fighting Russia’s invasion for more than three months and is calling on Western countries to send it more weapons.
Turkey and Lithuania signed the “Friendship Agreement” on 17 September 1930. The occupation and annexation of Lithuania by the Soviet Union has never been recognized by Turkey. After the collapse of the Soviet Union, diplomatic relations between the two countries were re-established on 3 September 1991.
The country will buy the unmanned aerial vehicle and other equipment with money raised by ordinary Lithuanians and then hand it over to Ukraine which is fighting a Russian invasion.
Read more: Lithuanians raise €5m for Ukraine’s Bayraktar drone in 3 days
The fundraising campaign was launched by the journalist Andrius Tapinas and his media channel Laisvės TV. It raised over 5 million euros in under four days.
A letter of intent on the purchase of Turkish-made weapons was signed by Deputy Defence Minister Vilius Semeška and the head of the Turkish Defence Industry Agency.
“We have signed an agreement. This means the green light for further acquisitions at the political level,” Semeška told BNS. He will meet with the head of Baykar, the manufacturer of Bayraktar drones, on Thursday.
Moreover, Semeška said on Wednesday that he had discussed with the Turkish agency’s head not only the acquisition of a Bayraktar with the money donated by the public but also the possible acquisition of at least one drone system for the Lithuanian Armed Forces.
According to him, the system would consist of six drones and the necessary equipment to operate them. Lithuanian Defense Minister Arvydas Anušauskas said on Tuesday that Lithuania was considering buying Bayraktar drones for its needs.
Turkey gifts Bayraktar drone to Lithuania to hand it over to Ukraine.
Turkey has gifted a Bayraktar combat drone to Lithuania to be handed over to Ukraine, journalist and public figure Andrius Tapinas said on Thursday.
“Turkey and the Baykar manufacturer have decided to GIFT to Lithuania a state-of-the-art Bayraktar TB2 combat drone with all optics and essentials,” Tapinas wrote on Facebook.
Last week, ordinary Lithuanians donated over 5 million euros in a fundraising campaign to purchase the Bayraktar drone for Ukraine, launched by Tapinas and his media channel Laisvės TV.
“Turkey is impressed by the determination of Lithuanian people to help Ukraine, by the fact that the money was raised in such a way, and that the name of Bayraktar has been heard all over the world for several days,” Tapinas said.
In his words, Turkey has also promised to hand the drone over to Lithuanian as soon as possible.
“According to our representatives, our Bayraktar will be ready within three weeks, and the Lithuanian Air Force will fly to pick it up so that they can take a closer look and hand it over to Ukraine as soon as possible,” Tapinas said.
According to him, 1.5 million euros donated by Lithuanian people will be transferred to the Lithuanian Defence Ministry, which will be used to fully equip the drone.
The remaining 4.4 million euros should be earmarked for humanitarian, defence, logistical, or reconstruction aid to Ukraine as per Turkey’s request, Tapinas said.
“Good initiatives do not go unnoticed. We travelled to Turkey to negotiate terms, production deadlines, and handover procedures, but they provided us with the most pleasant surprise possible,” said Deputy Defence Minister Vilius Semeška, who travelled to Turkey this week.
“Turkey was impressed by our small country’s great initiative, and we are extremely grateful to Turkey. Now, both the combat drone and additional humanitarian aid will reach Ukraine,” he added.