Ankara: A Turkish C-130 military cargo plane carrying at least 20 personnel crashed in Georgia after taking off from Azerbaijan. The cause of the crash remains under investigation.
Wreckage from the aircraft was found scattered across a grassy hill near the Georgian-Azerbaijani border, with sections of the fuselage still burning as thick black smoke billowed into the clear sky.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan paused a speech in Ankara to express condolences for “our martyrs,” a term often used for service members who die in the line of duty. “May God rest their souls and give strength to their families,” he said, adding that Turkey would work closely with Georgia and Azerbaijan to determine what went wrong.
Turkey’s Defence Ministry confirmed that 20 Turkish personnel, including the flight crew, were on board the US-made C-130 Hercules. It did not clarify whether any Azerbaijani servicemen were also among those on the flight. Georgian authorities said search and rescue teams had reached the crash site in the Sighnaghi municipality of Kakheti, a hilly border region near floodplain forests.
Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev spoke with Erdoğan to convey condolences and called the crash “a tragic loss of servicemen.” The US ambassador to Turkey, Tom Barrack, also expressed sorrow, saying Washington stands in solidarity with our Turkish allies.
Lockheed Martin, the American manufacturer of the C-130, extended condolences to Turkey’s armed forces and said it would assist in the investigation. The C-130 Hercules is a four-engine turboprop aircraft used worldwide for transporting troops, equipment, and supplies, capable of landing on rough, unprepared airstrips.
Georgia’s Interior Ministry said the incident is being investigated under criminal provisions related to aviation accidents and loss of life. The full death toll and cause of the crash are expected to be confirmed after recovery operations conclude.
