In a tragic incident, at least 20 people were killed after a Turkish C-130 military cargo plane crashed in Georgia. The crash took place near Georgia’s border with Azerbaijan.
Turkish personnel were onboard. The authorities launched rescue operations and sought international cooperation for the rescue efforts.
Turkey’s national defence minister said in a post on X, ” One of our C130 military cargo aircraft, which was taking off from Azerbaijan to come to our country, has crashed at the Georgia-Azerbaijan border. Search and rescue operations have begun in coordination with the authorities of Azerbaijan and Georgia. It is respectfully announced to the public.”
Azerbaycan’dan ülkemize gelmek üzere havalanan bir C130 askerî kargo uçağımız Gürcistan-Azerbaycan sınırında düşmüştür. Arama kurtarma çalışmalarına Azerbaycan ve Gürcistan makamları ile koordineli olarak başlanmıştır.
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Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan offered condolences for the personnel who lost their lives in the incident. He interrupted his speech and called them “our martyrs.”
“God willing, we will overcome this crash with minimum hardships. May God rest the soul of our martyrs, and let us be with them through our prayers,” Reuters quoted the president as saying.
The President’s Office or the ministry did not give details of the martyrs in the incident, but local media reported that both Turkish and Azeri personnel were on board.
Georgia’s Interpress news agency mentioned that the interior ministry launched a probe under a criminal code article.
