A Turkish C-130 military cargo plane with 20 Turkish personnel on board, including the flight crew, crashed in the Sighnaghi municipality of Georgia's Kakheti region on Tuesday. The aircraft went down near the Azerbaijan border shortly after taking off from Ganja, Azerbaijan, en route back to Turkey.
While officials did not immediately provide a final death toll, the tenor of official statements indicated a high loss of life. Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan interrupted a speech to offer condolences for "our martyrs," a term used for service personnel killed in the line of duty.
Azerbaijan's President Ilham Aliyev, in a call with President Erdogan, discussed "the tragic news of the loss of servicemen" in the crash. Later reports, citing the Turkish government, stated all 20 occupants were killed in the crash. Local media reports suggested there were both Turkish and Azeri personnel on board, though Turkey's Defence Ministry only confirmed 20 Turkish personnel.
US Ambassador to Turkey, Tom Barrack, expressed deep sadness and offered condolences to the Turkish allies. Initial video footage from the crash site showed chunks of twisted metal strewn across a grassy area, with parts of the fuselage still ablaze and dark smoke rising.
Unconfirmed social media footage appeared to show the plane corkscrewing towards the earth and breaking up mid-air before bursting into flames. Flight tracking data suggests a rapid descent after the last signal was received. The cause of the crash is not yet clear, and the Georgian Interior Ministry has launched an investigation under a criminal code article covering air transport safety and the loss of life.
Turkey's Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya confirmed that his Georgian counterpart, Gela Geladze, had reached the wreckage site and search and rescue operations were continuing in the border region.
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