All 20 people aboard a Turkish military cargo plane were killed after it crashed in eastern Georgia while returning from Azerbaijan, Turkey’s Defence Ministry confirmed.
The C-130 Hercules aircraft had departed from Ganja Airport in western Azerbaijan on Tuesday afternoon and went down shortly after crossing into Georgian airspace.
According to Georgia’s Interior Ministry, the crash occurred near the Sighnaghi region, roughly five kilometres (3.1 miles) from the Azerbaijani border.
In a statement on social media, Defence Minister Yasar Güler said: “Our heroic comrades-in-arms were martyred on 11 November 2025 due to the crash of our C-130 military cargo aircraft, which had taken off from Azerbaijan to return to Turkey.”
The minister also shared photographs of the 20 service members who lost their lives.
Eyewitness footage published by Azerbaijani media showed the aircraft spiralling horizontally, trailing debris before impact.
Georgian air traffic control reported that the plane vanished from radar screens moments after entering Georgian airspace and failed to issue a distress signal. Emergency services later confirmed the wreckage.
The cause of the crash remains under investigation. The C-130 Hercules, manufactured by U.S. aerospace company Lockheed Martin, has long been a cornerstone of military transport operations worldwide.
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