Ankara: The Turkish Ministry of Defense announced on Tuesday evening the discovery of the wreckage of the crashed cargo plane, confirming that the cause of the crash will be determined by an investigation conducted by a specialized technical team. The Turkish Defense Ministry stated in a press release that Georgian search and rescue teams reached the wreckage at 6:00 PM.

According to National Iraqi News Agency, the wreckage has been secured for examination by a specialized accident investigation team. The Turkish Defense Ministry mentioned that their team is en route to the crash site, and the cause of the crash will be determined after a thorough examination of the wreckage by the technical team.

Earlier on Tuesday, the Turkish Defense Ministry announced the crash of a C-130 military cargo plane belonging to the Turkish Ministry of Defense on the Georgian-Azerbaijani border while returning from Azerbaijan to Turkey. It was indicated that the plane was carrying 20 people, including its crew.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan announced in an official statement the deaths of several Turkish military personnel in the crash of a C-130 military transport plane near the border between Azerbaijan and Georgia. Erdogan said, “The plane was on a routine logistical mission when contact was lost with it over a mountainous area near the border, and it was later determined that it had crashed.”

Erdogan offered his condolences to the families of the soldiers who lost their lives in the accident, noting that the government would announce the results of the technical investigation as soon as the plane’s two black boxes were recovered.