Has The Turkish Government Signed A Deal To Supply Latest Generation Drones To Mali?
On May 19, 2026, a Facebook user, Free Africa, claimed that Mali and Turkey have signed a contract for the supply of latest-generation drones equipped with machine guns and fragmentation cannons. The post had collage images of Mali’s leader, General Assimi Goïta, and Turkey’s Burhanettin Duran exchanging a document, and the picture of a drone.
This post is captioned, “🔴Mali🇲🇱 and Turkey🇹🇷 have just signed a contract for the supply of latest-generation drones equipped with machine guns and fragmentation cannons.
These are effective and cheaper than missiles for certain operations.
The Eternal Rest Continues….#FreeAfrica”
When this report was published, the post had over 2,800 reactions, comments and shares.
VERIFICATION
NV-A subjected both images to reverse Google image search, the result revealed that on May 28, 2025, Goïta held a meeting with Duran, Turkey’s Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs in charge of relations with the African continent. News reports noted that the meeting was focused on revitalising relations between the two countries in all sectors and the Turkish minister told journalists that he came to Mali to deliver a message from the President of Turkey, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, who conveyed his greetings of friendship and respect to President Assimi Goïta.
The drone image was however related to a different event. It was shot when Baykar Defense’s Kizilelma unmanned fighter aircraft underwent its flight testing in Ankara, Türkiye, on February 27, 2025, but was published on May 6, 2026.
A search through recent defense reports, Turkish media, and international coverage did not uncover any official announcement from either the Malian government, the Turkish government, or Turkish drone manufacturers confirming such a contract.
However, Mali has previously purchased Turkish drones, particularly the Bayraktar Akıncı and Bayraktar TB2. Reports indicate Mali received Akıncı drones in 2024 as part of earlier defense cooperation with Turkish company Baykar. Turkey has also expanded military and drone partnerships across several African countries, including Mali.
CONCLUSION
The claim that Mali and Turkey has signed a contract for the supply of latest-generation drones equipped with machine guns and fragmentation cannons is MISLEADING. There is evidence of ongoing military cooperation between Mali and Turkey, including previous purchases of Turkish drones by Mali. But there is no verified evidence that the two countries just signed a new contract for drones armed with machine guns and fragmentation cannons.
