Turkish military plane with 20 on board crashes near Azerbaijan-Georgia border
While the cause of the crash remains unclear, Turkey’s president referred to it as an “accident.”
ANKARA — A Turkish military C‑130 cargo plane with 20 personnel on board crashed in Georgian airspace on Tuesday, the Turkish Defense Ministry said, with officials indicating casualties but not specifying the number.
“A C‑130 military cargo aircraft, departing from Azerbaijan toward our country, has crashed near the Georgia-Azerbaijan border,” the ministry said in a statement. “Search and rescue operations have begun in coordination with Azerbaijani and Georgian authorities.”
Authorities have not provided details on the cause of the crash.
A widely circulated video from the crash site appears to show the plane spiraling as it fell, with white smoke rising from its wings.
Turkish and international officials have expressed their condolences, suggesting multiple lives may have been lost, without specifying a figure.
“We learned [of the crash] with deep sadness,” Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said in a televised speech in Ankara. “May God have mercy on our martyrs,” he added.
NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte also expressed his condolences to Turkey and the affected families in a message posted on X.
The crash occurred near the eastern Georgian town of Sighnaghi, about 5 kilometers (3 miles) from the Georgia-Azerbaijan border, the Georgian Ministry of Internal Affairs said in a statement issued around 4:30 p.m. local time. The ministry added that an investigation had been launched into the incident.
According to Azerbaijani media outlets, the aircraft had departed from the northwestern Azerbaijani town of Gence.
Georgian Interior Minister Gela Geladze and a search and rescue team reached the crash site at around 5:00 p.m. local time, Turkish Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya said following a phone call with his Georgian counterpart later on Tuesday.
“Search and rescue efforts are continuing,” Yerlikaya wrote on X.
In addition to the Georgian teams, a Turkish technical team of 50 was dispatched to the crash site to assist with search and rescue operations and the investigation, Turkey’s private NTV television reported.
Authorities have not provided details on the cause of the crash, but Erdogan referred to the incident as an “accident.”
“God willing, we’ll come out of this accident with as little loss as possible,” Erdogan said.
In addition to Yerlikaya, Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan also spoke with his Georgian counterpart, Maka Botchorishvili, to discuss the ongoing search and rescue efforts.
Botchorishvili also conveyed condolences to Fidan, according to Turkish diplomatic sources.
The Turkish Air Force has roughly 20 C-130 Hercules in its inventory.
The C‑130 Hercules, a four-engine turboprop transport aircraft, is widely used for military cargo, troop transport and humanitarian missions. It is known for its ability to take off from rough airfields and carry heavy payloads over long distances.
This developing story has been updated.
