A Turkish military cargo plane carrying at least 20 people has crashed near the Azerbaijan-Georgia border, Turkey's defence ministry has announced.
While officials have not yet confirmed the number of casualties, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has offered his condolences to 'our martyrs'.
Search and rescue operations are currently underway, involving emergency services at the scene, which includes the flight crew among the reported passengers.
The C-130 cargo plane was making its journey from Azerbaijan to Turkey when it met with the unfortunate accident.
Images from the crash site show emergency crews responding to the disaster and wreckage visible in the area.
Report from BBC Turkish indicates that the aircraft lost radar contact and did not signal distress before crashing.
Georgia's interior ministry confirmed the location of the crash as being near Sighnaghi, approximately 5 km from the Azerbaijani border.
Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev expressed deep sorrow over the incident and conveyed sympathies to Erdogan and the Turkish people.
In a response to the tragedy, US Ambassador to Turkey, Tom Barrack, also shared his condolences via social media, calling the fatal incident deeply saddening.
The C-130, a transport aircraft manufactured in the USA, is utilized by military forces across various nations around the world.
