Turkey: too early to say what caused deadly plane crash

AL-Monitor
Nov 13, 2025
Wreckage lies at the site of the Turkish C-130 military cargo plane crash near the Azerbaijani border, in Sighnaghi municipality, Georgia, November 11, 2025, in this still image taken from video. TV.IMEDI/Handout via REUTERS
Wreckage lies at the site of the Turkish C-130 military cargo plane crash near the Azerbaijani border, in Sighnaghi municipality, Georgia, November 11, 2025, in this still image taken from video. TV.IMEDI/Handout via REUTERS — TV.IMEDI

ANKARA (Reuters) - Turkey's defence ministry said on Thursday it was too early to say what caused the crash this week of a military cargo plane in Georgia in which 20 soldiers died, and inspections continue.

The C-130 cargo aircraft had left Azerbaijan for Turkey and crashed on Tuesday, an incident marking the NATO member's highest military death toll since 2020.

At a briefing in Ankara, the ministry said the aircraft was bought from Saudi Arabia in 2012 and had gone through necessary modernisations, including its last maintenance a month ago. It was not carrying ammunitions on its last flight, it added.

However, the ministry said all planned flights by Turkey's 18 C-130 planes had been suspended pending inspections, and that the black box of the crashed plane was being analysed.

(Reporting by Tuvan Gumrukcu; Editing by Jonathan Spicer)