Parliament speakers attending the NATO Parliamentary Summit held in Istanbul this week paid a field visit to the Baykar National Technology Center, a vast complex of Turkish defense giant Baykar.

The visit, hosted by Parliament Speaker Numan Kurtulmuş, comes ahead of next week's landmark NATO summit in the capital Ankara.

Following the summit held at Istanbul's Dolmabahçe Palace on Monday, Kurtulmuş, together with parliament speakers from allied countries and senior parliamentary representatives, visited Baykar Technology’s Özdemir Bayraktar National Technology Center.

During the field visit, guided by Baykar Chairperson Selçuk Bayraktar, the delegation was briefed on the company’s activities, work in defense technologies and innovative projects.

Kurtulmuş also met with Canan Bayraktar, the widow of the late Özdemir Bayraktar, a pioneer of Türkiye’s National Technology Initiative and indigenous combat drones, and the mother of Selçuk Bayraktar.

The visit comes ahead of the July 7-8 NATO summit in Ankara, which will feature for the first time a defense industry forum as part of the official program.