A forensic report drawn up by the gendarmerie concludes that there was no external attack and that no explosives were found at the scene of the crash of a Turkish military aircraft that crashed on the border between Azerbaijan and Georgia last November, killing 20 Turkish soldiers, according to a statement issued by the authorities in Ankara on 3 April.
The aircraft, a C-130 military transport flying from Azerbaijan to Turkey, crashed on 11 November 2025 in the Georgian municipality of Sighnaghi, near the Azerbaijani border. The aircraft had taken off from Ganja airport in western Azerbaijan but crashed shortly after entering Georgian airspace.
The Turkish military personnel on board were part of an army unit that had travelled to Azerbaijan to take part in the Victory Day celebrations, which commemorate the 2020 victory over Armenia in the Karabakh war following a territorial conflict between the two countries that lasted for almost four decades. Although the Ankara public prosecutor’s office is keeping the investigation into the accident open, the preliminary forensic report issued by the gendarmerie rules out any external involvement based on the remains examined, according to a report today by the Turkish news agency DHA.
In compiling this report, international procedures were followed for the collection of evidence, the analysis of the remains and the taking of statements. Furthermore, in cooperation with Georgia under bilateral agreements, several pieces of evidence were transferred to Türkiye. As for the examinations carried out at the Institute of Forensic Medicine on the bodies of the deceased, which were transported from Tbilisi to Ankara in a Turkish Armed Forces A400M aircraft, these have also been concluded and incorporated into the case file.
No evidence of an explosion or sabotage has been found
The report issued by the General Command of the Gendarmerie, included in the file, details the results of the initial technical analyses of the aircraft wreckage. The document states that “no shrapnel marks or traces of damage that could have been caused by the detonation of an explosive device near the aircraft” were found as part of an attack or an act of sabotage. “No evidence of an explosion caused by an improvised explosive device or any other explosive device or its components was found,” it adds. It also highlights the absence of petroleum derivatives or fire accelerants, and adds that the elemental analysis did not detect any suspicious chemical compounds.
Meanwhile, the Turkish Air Force’s Directorate of Evaluation and Inspection continues to analyse the causes of the air crash. Technical investigations are being carried out simultaneously in Georgia and Turkey, with expert units conducting a detailed assessment of the findings. In accordance with international standards, a preliminary report is expected to be published first, followed by the final report. The investigation also includes forensic analysis of digital materials and the victims’ mobile phones.
Georgian aviation authorities initially reported that contact with the aircraft was lost a few minutes after it entered their airspace, and that no distress signal was issued. Footage shared on social media and in various media outlets showed the plane spiralling down, leaving a trail of white smoke. The wreckage was scattered across an area of farmland surrounded by hills.
The Lockheed C-130 Hercules military transport aircraft are a mainstay of the Turkish Armed Forces’ air transport fleet and are routinely used for the transport of military personnel as well as in logistical operations. The aircraft that crashed in Georgia was manufactured in 1968, initially serving in Saudi Arabia before being added to the Turkish Army’s inventory in 2010.
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Edited and reviewed by:
Pablo Gómez is a specialist in Turkey and has been editor-in-chief of Hispanatolia since 2011. He has been analysing current affairs and geopolitics in Turkey and the surrounding region since 2006.
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