Türkiye holds funeral for 20 soldiers killed in Georgia plane crash
Türkiye held a solemn ceremony in Ankara on Nov. 14 for 20 military personnel killed when a C-130 cargo plane crashed in Georgia on Nov. 11. The aircraft was traveling from Ganja, Azerbaijan, to Türkiye when it went down near Sighnaghi, close to the Georgian border. The cause is under investigation.
Among the victims were crew members and technicians responsible for maintaining Turkish F-16 jets that had been in Azerbaijan for Victory Day celebrations marking the country’s 2020 triumph over Armenia in Nagorno-Karabakh. After the ceremony, the flag-draped coffins were transported to the victims’ hometowns for burial.
Türkiye has grounded its remaining 18 C-130s pending inspections. The Defense Ministry said flight and cockpit recorders are being examined and confirmed the aircraft carried no ammunition.
The tragedy was followed by another fatal aviation incident on Nov. 13, when a Turkish firefighting plane crashed in Croatia, killing its pilot. The aircraft was returning to Türkiye with another firefighting plane when both encountered bad weather. One landed safely, while contact with the second was lost near the town of Senj. Croatian authorities later located the wreckage.
The crashes occurred within days of each other, prompting intensified scrutiny of recent military and civil aviation losses.
