President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan's daughter Sümeyye Erdoğan is to get engaged to Selçuk Bayraktar, who is the one of the leading figures of the team that manufacture Turkey's first domestically produced unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), although an official announcement has not yet been made.
The Bayraktar family confirmed the reports and said the couple is expected to announce their engagement soon.
Bayraktar, 36, is currently working on his PhD at Georgia Institute of Technology and has completed his master's degree at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). He is also the son of Özdemir Bayraktar who owns Baykar Makina. He completed high school at renowned Robert College in Istanbul and finished his undergrad degree in electronic and communications engineering at Istanbul Technical University in 2002. He received an offer from the University of Pennsylvania for an internship at GRASP labs and continued his grad studies here. He is currently working on his PhD at Georgia Institute of Technology.
He has been working as the chief technology officer (CTO) of Baykar Makina since 2007, and has received numerous awards for his contribution to the drone industry in Turkey.
Turkey's first domestically produced unmanned aerial vehicle Bayraktar TB2, which has been readied for arming for over a year, entered the inventory of the Turkish Armed Forces (TAF) as the first national UAV. The Bayraktar TB2's missile was able to hit a 2x2 target in a test carried out in December 2015.
The youngest of President Erdoğan and First Lady Emine Erdoğan's four children, Sümeyye Erdoğan previously served as the adviser to the vice-president of the Justice and Development (AK) Party during her father Recep Tayyip Erdoğan's term as the Prime Minister of Turkey.
She completed her undergrad degree at Indiana University and completed her masters in the London School of Economics and Political Science.
An active figure in promoting women's rights, Sümeyye Erdoğan is the deputy head of the Women and Democracy Association (KADEM).
