Turkey names 20 air force personnel killed in military plane crash in Georgia

Turkey’s Ministry of Defence has released the names of the 20 servicemen killed when a Turkish military aircraft crashed in eastern Georgia, near the country’s border with Turkey on Monday.

Among the victims are pilot Gökhan Korkmaz, technical service chief Lieutenant Emre Merkan, technical sergeants Nuri Özkan, İlhan Ongan, and İlker Aykut, as well as Air Force officers Serdar Uslu, Nihat Yılgen, Cüneyt Kandemir, Ümit İnce, Burak Özkan, Emrah Kuran, Hamdi Armağan Kaplan, Akın Karakuş, Ramazan Yağız, Emre Altıok, Burak İbiği, Berkay Karaça, Ahmet Yaşar Kuyucu, Cem Dolapçı, and Emre Sayın.

The aircraft went down in Georgia’s Sighnaghi municipality, about five kilometres from the Turkish border, while flying from Azerbaijan to Turkey.

Georgia’s authorities have launched an investigation under Article 275 (Part 4) of the country’s Criminal Code, which concerns violations of air transport operation and safety rules resulting in loss of life.

Turkey’s Defence Ministry confirmed that all 20 personnel on board perished in the crash.