ISTANBUL: A Turkish military cargo plane crashed on the border between Georgia and Azerbaijan as it was flying back home, Turkey's defense ministry said Tuesday.

"Our C-130 military cargo plane, which took off from Azerbaijan to return home, has crashed at the Georgia-Azerbaijan border," the ministry said on X, indicating a search and rescue operation was taking place but without saying whether there were any casualties or how many people were on board.

In a statement, Georgia's interior ministry confirmed the crash of "a Turkish military aircraft" that was flying to Turkey, saying it went down "about five kilometers from Georgia's state border" with Azerbaijan.

There were 20 people on board the Turkish military cargo plane that crashed in Georgia on Tuesday while flying back home from Azerbaijan, the defense ministry said.

"Our aircraft that crashed had 20 personnel on board, including the flight crew. Search and rescue operations are ongoing," the ministry said in a statement.

It said an investigation had been opened.

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Turkish military cargo plane crashes on Georgia-Azerbaijan border