Ankara: Trkiyes defence ministry said that 20 soldiers were martyred in the crash of a Turkish military cargo plane in Georgia on Tuesday. “At 06:30 am (0230GMT) in coordination with Georgian authorities, the search and rescue and accident investigation team began its investigation of the wreckage of our military cargo plane that crashed on the Azerbaijan-Georgia border,” the ministry said on Wednesday.

According to TRTworld.com, a Turkish C-130 military cargo plane carrying 20 military personnel crashed after taking off from Azerbaijan en route to Trkiye. The ministry has since released the names of all 20 soldiers who lost their lives in the tragic incident.

In response to the crash, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan held separate phone calls Tuesday with Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev and Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze. The discussions focused on the ongoing search and rescue operations and the cooperation between the countries involved.

President Erdogan, speaking at an event in the capital Ankara, expressed his condolences for the fallen soldiers. The incident has drawn international attention, with several countries and leaders around the world expressing their solidarity with Trkiye in the aftermath of the crash.