20 killed as Turkish military plane crashes near Georgia-Azerbaijan border

All 20 people aboard a Turkish military cargo plane were killed when it crashed near the Georgia-Azerbaijan border while en route from Azerbaijan to Turkey, according to Turkish officials and media reports.

The C-130 transport aircraft went down in Georgia’s Kakheti region, about 5 kilometers (3 miles) from the border with Azerbaijan, the Turkish Ministry of National Defense said. The crash occurred in a mountainous area near the Georgian municipality of Signagi.

The plane was carrying 20 military personnel, including the flight crew, all of whom were killed, according to Euronews, citing Turkish officials.

“We learned with deep sorrow that our C-130 military aircraft, en route from Azerbaijan to our country, crashed on the Georgia-Azerbaijan border,” President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said. “May God have mercy on our martyrs.”

Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev also extended condolences to Turkey, saying he was “deeply saddened by the tragic news of the loss of servicemen” and conveyed sympathy to the families of the victims and the “fraternal people of Türkiye.”

Turkey’s Ministry of Defense said an accident investigation team is traveling to the scene to determine the cause of the crash.

Azerbaycan medyasında çıkan haberlere göre Gürcistan-Azerbaycan sınırında Türk Silahlı Kuvvetlerine ait askeri kargo uçağının düştüğü idda ediliyor. pic.twitter.com/DcqQj7MzkO

— Derin Kuvvetler (@Derinkuvvet) November 11, 2025