A Turkish military cargo plane carrying at least 20 people has crashed near the Azerbaijan-Georgia border, Turkey's defense ministry has reported.
While officials have yet to confirm the number of casualties, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has expressed his condolences for the 'martyrs' of the incident.
Search and rescue operations are currently in progress at the crash site. The specific number of individuals on board included both flight crew and officials.
The aircraft, a C-130 cargo plane, was en route from Azerbaijan to Turkey at the time of the accident.
Images from the area depict emergency services working at the scene and fragments believed to be part of the aircraft.
Reports from BBC Turkish indicate that Georgia's aviation authority noted that the plane vanished from radar without sending out a distress signal. The crash took place near the town of Sighnaghi, just about 5 kilometers from the Azerbaijan border.
Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev extended his condolences to Turkey and its people, expressing deep sadness over the tragic incident. The U.S. ambassador to Turkey, Tom Barrack, also shared his sorrow on social media, offering heartfelt tributes to the families of those lost and the Turkish Armed Forces.
The C-130, manufactured in the U.S., is a widely used transport plane in military operations globally.
