Minister of Internal Affairs Ali Jerlikaja expressed his condolences and is following the development of the situation

The C-130 Hercules is a transport aircraft known for its ability to land on rough runways

A Turkish C-130 military transport plane crashed today on the border of Georgia and Azerbaijan, the Turkish Ministry of Defense announced.

In a post on the ministry's social networks, it is stated that the plane flew from Azerbaijan to Turkey and that in coordination with the authorities of Azerbaijan and Georgia, search and rescue operations were immediately started, Turkish Hurriyet reports.

- I spoke on the phone with the Minister of Internal Affairs of Georgia, Gela Geladz, who is also going to the accident site. I express my condolences to our people - Jerlikaya wrote on social networks.

C-130 Hercules, produced by the American company"Lockheed Martin", has four engines and is intended for military transport tasks.

The aircraft is designed for landing and take-off from unprepared or semi-prepared runways, and is used for the transport of military cargo, troops and evacuation.

There were 20 Turkish soldiers in the plane, all of them died

The Turkish Ministry of Defense announced that there were 20 Turkish soldiers, including the crew, in the C-130 military cargo plane that crashed near the border of Azerbaijan and Georgia.

The statement says that the search and rescue operation is continuing, but there are no details about possible passengers of other nationalities or the cause of the accident.

It was later reported, all the soldiers on the plane, as well as the crew, were killed.

Erdogan made a statement.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan today expressed his condolences to the victims of the C-130 military transport plane crash on the border of Georgia and Azerbaijan, calling them"martyrs".

- With God's will, we will overcome this fall with a minimum of trouble. We are with our martyrs in our prayers - Erdogan said, reports Reuters.