Turkey confirmed on Wednesday that all 20 people onboard a military cargo plane that crashed in Georgia, en route from Azerbaijan, were killed.
The aircraft, which had taken off from Ganja airport in western Azerbaijan on Tuesday afternoon, went down shortly after crossing the border into eastern Georgia, according to the Turkish Ministry of Defence.
The plane was carrying 20 people, including the flight crew.
Defence Minister Yaşar Güler expressed his condolences in a statement posted on his X account, describing the 20 individuals as “our heroic comrades-in-arms” who “were martyred on 11 November 2025 due to the crash of our C-130 military cargo aircraft, which had taken off from Azerbaijan to return to Turkey.” Along with the statement, Güler shared 20 photographs of those who lost their lives.
While Turkey has not yet provided details on the cause of the accident, dramatic footage shared by Azerbaijani media appeared to show the plane spinning horizontally in the air, accompanied by several pieces of debris, as it fell.
Georgia’s Interior Ministry confirmed the crash occurred in the Sighnaghi region, about five kilometres (3.1 miles) from the border with Azerbaijan.
Georgian air traffic control reported that the plane disappeared from radar shortly after entering Georgian airspace, without transmitting a distress signal. Authorities were alerted to the crash by emergency services.
The C-130 Hercules military cargo plane, which was involved in the incident, is manufactured by the American company Lockheed Martin.
