Effects of Türkiye's armed/unmanned aerial vehicles policy on national security

Türkiye, which was exposed to embargoes as a result of foreign dependency in the defense industry in the past, is trying to get rid of the negative effects of dependency on national security by creating a national defense industry. In this context, one of the most popular and successful examples of efforts to establish a national defense industry is armed unmanned aerial vehicles. This study aims to reveal the effect created by examining the effects of Türkiye's armed unmanned aerial vehicle policy on national security within the framework of the smart power conceptualization. In the study carried out by the literature review method, it has been seen that the armed unmanned aerial vehicle policy followed is used as a smart power tool by contributing to both hard and soft power. In the context of counter-terrorism and cross-border operations, continuous target detection, reconnaissance, and surveillance missions by armed unmanned aerial vehicles, which provide low-cost solutions and without loss of personnel in asymmetrical battlefields, increase awareness on the battlefield. In addition, having the attack capacity thanks to smart ammunition brings with it the ability to respond quickly and instantly. Thus, armed unmanned aerial vehicles, which are used as a hard power tool, are also used as a soft power tool in ways that increase legitimacy such as reflecting the images obtained to the press. In addition, in the study, the effects of exports of armed unmanned aerial vehicle systems to other states in the context of Türkiye's national security are also emphasized. It was concluded that the use of Turkish-made armed unmanned aerial vehicles, especially by states in hot conflict such as Azerbaijan, Libya and Ukraine, positively affects both hard power and soft power of Türkiye. In this respect, the fact that Turkish-made armed unmanned aerial vehicles are becoming more and more popular in the world public opinion has positive effects on Türkiye's soft power. At the end of the study, it was concluded that the armed unmanned aerial vehicle policy followed by Türkiye created a smart power field and thus Türkiye's national security was positively affected.