I have thought about this too, Here are four pieces of thought:
- This may be a largely political deal. How can Vestel sell their products abroad when even Turkish military didn't buy it? Usually when countries request for RFP they ask if the weapon system is being used in the home country, if not that is a huge disadvantage. Not only that but Turkish military is highly picky in their procurements, so if they buy something it gives the product a verification.
- Since the government didn't buy any Vestels and instead bought TAI and Baykar products, they may be deliberately cannibalizing TAI/Baykar exports just to keep Vestel defence afloat.
- Although Vestel products are not top-notch (see 1.), since they are a commercial company they may have a successful PR and ad campaign, which resulted in them being favored abroad.
- Vestel's drones are very good, but they were very late for Turkish gov to procure them, so now they are targeting markets abroad.