Haluk Bayraktar

Baykar • CEO

Haluk Bayraktar is the CEO of Baykar, Türkiye’s premier autonomous technology company. Haluk began his tenure at Baykar in 2004 as an engineering manager when Baykar’s autonomous technology efforts were still nascent. He has since been involved in every aspect of the business: from engineering to project management to logistics support and business development.

In addition to his leadership at Baykar, Haluk Bayraktar has expanded his role into the European aerospace sector. He serves as the Chairman of Piaggio Aerospace, where he is committed to revitalizing one of Italy’s most historic, 140-year-old aviation brands, Dedicated to preserving the brand’s legacy while steering it into a new era of excellence in business aviation and advanced engineering. Furthermore, he is one of the founders of LBA Systems, a strategic 50/50 joint venture between Baykar and Leonardo. In this capacity, he leads the integration of Baykar's world-leading unmanned platforms with Leonardo’s advanced mission systems and European certification expertise, overseeing the development and production of next-generation systems in Italy for European and international markets.

Haluk is also one of the founders, a Trustee and Former Chairman of the Board of the Türkiye Technology Team (T3) Foundation, an initiative intended to foster technology education among Turkish youth through entrepreneurship, competitions, and supplementary technology education.

Additionally, Haluk is one of the founders and the Chairman of the Board of Türkiye’s Aerospace Cluster (SAHA), which includes over 1300 companies.

Haluk Bayraktar took an active role in the private sector in the fight against the COVID-19 epidemic that started in 2019 in Türkiye. With the SAHA Istanbul Cluster Association, in his capacity as the Chairman of the Board of Directors, he led the execution of various projects and also took part in domestic intensive care ventilator projects developed by Baykar, Aselsan, Biosys, and Arçelik. Intensive care respirators produced in domestic and national facilities were delivered to the Ministry of Health in as little as a month. Türkiye exported these devices to the countries in need, and they donated them to those that did not have enough funds.

Haluk is a graduate of Middle East Technical University in Industrial Engineering and Columbia University in Financial Engineering. He is an avid fisher and sportsman, frequently appears on Turkish television and at university conferences, but above all he enjoys spending quality time with his wife and four children.

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