Western firms have supplied critical components for Turkish drones

Turkey has escalated its use of

airstrikes

in its fight against the

PKK

and allies in Iraq and Syria in recent years.
Many of the strikes are carried out by armed drones, including the Bayraktar TB2, according to local officials in Iraq and weapons experts.
The drone's maker, Istanbul-based company Baykar, is run by brothers

Haluk

and

Selcuk Bayraktar

. The latter is married to Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan's daughter. The company was founded in the 1980s by their father Özdemir and began to focus on drones in 2005. The company did not respond to a request for comment.