The Nordic Monitor a Turkish opposition news site reports that a senior Turkish official dismissed as mere allegation the use of a Turkish drone in a Hamas terrorist attack on civilian and military targets in Israel last year, claiming the government has no such information despite the manufacturer in Istanbul confirming it was one of his drones.
Fuat Oktay, chairman of the parliamentary Foreign Affairs Committee and a former vice president of Turkey, responded to an opposition lawmaker’s concern that the use of a Turkish drone in the attack could cause trouble for the country, saying, “We have nothing to verify the accuracy of such an incident.”
The Nordic Monitor added that a video shared by Hamas’s armed wing, the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades, on October 21, 2023 showed that one of the drones used in the October 7 attacks against Israeli targets was manufactured by the Istanbul-based Remzi Başbuğ Assuva Savunma Sanayi (Assuva Defense Industry). The propaganda video featured the simultaneous use of at least three Turkish drones.
The footage showed a Proton Elic RB-128, the standard model of which sells for between $40,000 and $60,000. With upgraded features, its price can go as high as $300,000.