The Defense Ministry announced on Wednesday that all 20 servicemen aboard a military cargo plane that crashed in Georgia while returning from Azerbaijan had died.
The ministry published pictures of the 20 deceased military personnel on the social media platform X on Wednesday morning, The Caspian Post reports citing Turkish media.
It said the fallen personnel were Lt. Col. Gökhan Korkmaz, Maj. Serdar Uslu, Maj. Nihat Ilgen, 1st Lt. Cüneyt Kandemir, 1st Lt. Emre Mercan, Sgt. Maj. Nuri Özcan, Sgt. Maj. Umit Ince, Sgt. Maj. Hamdi Armağan Kaplan, Sgt. Maj. Burak Özkan, Sgt. Maj. Ilker Aykut, Sgt. Maj. Akın Karakuş, Sgt. Maj. Emrah Kuran, Sgt. Maj. Ramazan Yağız, Staff Sgt. Emre Altıok, Staff Sgt. Berkay Karaca, Staff Sgt. Burak Ibbiği, Staff Sgt. Ilhan Ongan, Sgt. 1st Class Ahmet Yasir Kuyucu, Specialist Sgt. Cem Dolapçı and Specialist Sgt. Emre Sayın.
The plane had taken off from Ganja airport in western Azerbaijan on Tuesday afternoon but crashed shortly after crossing the border into eastern Georgia, the Defense Ministry said after the incident.
"Our heroic comrades were martyred on Nov. 11, 2025, when our C-130 military cargo aircraft, returning from Azerbaijan, crashed near the Georgia-Azerbaijan border. On behalf of myself and all members of the Ministry of National Defense, I wish Allah's mercy upon our fallen heroes and extend my deepest condolences to their grieving families and our noble nation,” Defense Minister Yaşar Güler said.
The cause of the crash has not yet been determined.
Images purportedly showing the incident circulating on social media show an aircraft crashing vertically to the ground at high speed. The images cannot be verified.
Georgian and Turkish search-and-rescue teams were dispatched to the region. Authorities are investigating whether violations of aviation safety or operational rules contributed to the crash.
Georgia's Interior Ministry had confirmed the plane went down in the Sighnaghi area, "about 5 kilometres (3.1 miles) from Georgia's state border" with Azerbaijan.
Georgian air traffic control said the plane had disappeared from its radar shortly after entering its airspace "without transmitting a distress signal" and that it had been alerted to the crash by the emergency services.
U.S. manufacturer Lockheed Martin makes the C-130 Hercules military cargo plane.
President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze on Tuesday discussed the latest developments in the search and rescue efforts for the crash.
During the phone call, Kobakhidze offered his condolences over the death of soldiers in the crash, Türkiye's Communications Directorate said on the Turkish social media platform NSosyal.
For his part, Erdoğan expressed gratitude to Kobakhidze for his condolences and support, the directorate added.
Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan, Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya and Güler also held talks with their Georgian counterparts.
Several states, as well as NATO and foreign diplomatic representations in Ankara, offered their condolences to Türkiye.
