Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan stated that the Turkish government, in coordination with the Georgian authorities, is closely monitoring the search and rescue operations at the site of the Turkish military cargo plane crash.

“We are closely following the search and rescue efforts, together with the Georgian authorities, regarding our military cargo plane that crashed on its way back to our country from Azerbaijan,” Fidan wrote on the social media platform X.

The Georgian Ministry of Internal Affairs reported that the Turkish military aircraft, flying in the Azerbaijan–Turkey direction, crashed in the Sighnaghi municipality, approximately five kilometers from the Georgian border.

The Georgian Ministry of Internal Affairs has launched an investigation under Article 275, Part 4 of the Criminal Code of Georgia, which concerns violations of air transport safety or operational rules resulting in loss of life.

The Turkish Ministry of Defense confirmed that a Turkish C-130 cargo aircraft crashed near the Georgian-Azerbaijani border, with 20 servicemen on board.