Bodies of Turkish soldiers from cargo plane crash set to be repatriated Thursday

By Beril Canakci

ISTANBUL (AA) - The bodies of the Turkish soldiers from Tuesday’s cargo plane crash along the Georgia-Azerbaijan border have all been recovered and are set to be repatriated to Türkiye on Thursday, the National Defense Ministry said.

The Turkish C-130 military cargo aircraft had crashed while on its way home from Azerbaijan. According to the ministry, the aircraft was carrying 20 people, including the flight crew.

At a weekly press briefing, the ministry gave an update on the crash investigation. The flight data recorder (FDR) and cockpit voice data recorder (CVDR) from the aircraft have both been brought to Türkiye for analysis and are currently being examined in the capital Ankara.

The ministry also said that social media accounts that gave the identities of the deceased soldiers before official announcements were identified, and legal action against them has begun.

In addition, the ministry announced that as of this Wednesday, the operations of C-130 aircraft have been temporarily suspended. Flights will resume only after detailed technical inspections are completed.