A military cargo aircraft belonging to Türkiye’s armed forces crashed onTuesday near the border between Georgia and Azerbaijan. The aircraft—aC-130 transport plane—had taken off from Azerbaijan and was en route backto Turkey when the incident occurred.
According to a statement by Turkey’s Ministry of National Defence, theaircraft crashed after departing Azerbaijan and prior to reaching itsdestination in Turkey. Georgian authorities confirm the crash site lieswithin the Sighnaghi municipality, close to the Azerbaijan-Georgia border.Search-and-rescue operations have been launched jointly by Turkish,Georgian, and Azerbaijani teams, though details on the number of personnelon board and any casualties remain unclear.
President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan expressed his condolences, referring tothose aboard as “martyrs” and emphasising that efforts are under way tominimise loss of life. The Georgian Interior Ministry has opened a criminalinvestigation under its aviation-safety statutes and mobilised officials tothe crash site. Meanwhile, the precise cause of the accident—whethertechnical failure, human error or other factors—has yet to be determined.
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Further updates are expected as investigators from Turkey, Georgia andAzerbaijan work to establish the circumstances of the crash and locate anysurvivors.