Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan announced Wednesday that an investigation has been opened into the Turkish C-130 military plane that crashed yesterday on the Georgia-Azerbaijan border after the black box was found, and reiterated his condolences for the tragedy that has shocked the entire country.
“First of all, I convey my condolences to the whole nation. Yesterday we received a very sad news that affected our 86 million citizens. Our C-130 military transport aircraft, which was carrying our unit from Azerbaijan to participate in the fifth anniversary of the Karabakh Victory, crashed in the Signagi region, near the Georgian-Azerbaijani border, shortly after take-off. Unfortunately we lost 20 of our sons and daughters in this tragic incident,” Erdoğan said during a meeting with provincial leaders of his party in Ankara.
The Turkish leader said that 19 bodies have been recovered from the crash site, while the search continues for the last victim. He also confirmed that the plane’s black box has been found. “All the resources of the Republic of Turkey, as well as those of Georgia and Azerbaijan, have been mobilised for our heroes. We are following the efforts on the ground minute by minute. We will ensure that the necessary examinations are carried out with the utmost rigour to clarify all aspects of the incident,” Erdoğan stressed, according to information published by the İHA news agency.
The plane disappeared from radar “without issuing an emergency signal“
The Defence Ministry published on Wednesday on the social network X the photographs and names of the 20 military personnel who died, among them lieutenant colonel Gökhan Korkmaz, majors Serdar Uslu and Nihat İlgen, lieutenants Cüneyt Kandemir and Emre Mercan, and several sergeants and non-commissioned officers, whose bodies will be repatriated with honours.
According to local authorities, the plane had taken off from Ganja airport in western Azerbaijan on Tuesday evening and crashed to the ground shortly after crossing the border into eastern Georgia. The Georgian Interior Ministry confirmed yesterday that the plane crashed in the Sighnaghi area, about five kilometres from the border with neighbouring Azerbaijan, while Georgian air traffic control said the plane disappeared from radar shortly after entering Georgian airspace “without emitting an emergency signal“.
The tragic crash of the Turkish military plane in Georgia has sparked numerous expressions of international support, with NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte and several world leaders sending their condolences to Türkiye: “We honour the service of the soldiers who lost their lives and we are deeply grateful for all that the Turkish Armed Forces – and all the men and women in uniform in the Alliance – do every day to keep us safe,” said Rutte. Unverified footage circulated on social media showed the C-130 spiralling out of control and crashing to the ground.
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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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