ANKARA, Turkey (AP) — Turkey has temporarily grounded its C-130 military cargo planes as a precaution, the Defense Ministry announced Thursday, following a crash in Georgia that claimed the lives of all 20 military personnel on board.
The cargo plane was flying from Ganja, Azerbaijan to Turkey when it crashed in Georgia’s Sighnaghi municipality, close to the Azerbaijani border, on Tuesday. The cause of the crash is being investigated.
The military personnel were part of a unit responsible for the maintenance and repair of Turkish F-16 jets that had flown to Azerbaijan to participate in that country’s Victory Day celebrations. The event marked Azerbaijan’s 2020 military success over Armenia for control of the Karabakh region, known internationally as Nagorno-Karabakh, a conflict that had lasted nearly four decades.
The National Defense Ministry said C-130 flights were temporarily suspended to allow the aircraft to undergo detailed technical inspections. Only those who successfully pass the checks would be allowed to resume flying, the ministry said in a statement.
C-130 military cargo planes are widely used by Turkey’s armed forces for transporting personnel and handling logistical operations.
Turkey dispatched an accident investigation team to determine the cause of the crash. The ministry said the plane’s flight data recorder and cockpit voice data recorder were sent to Turkey and were under examination in Ankara.
The aircraft was purchased from Saudi Arabia in 2012 and was added to Turkey’s Air Force inventory in 2014 after undergoing maintenance procedures. It later underwent modernization and had been in use since 2022. Its most recent scheduled maintenance was completed on Oct. 12, the ministry said.
The ministry said there was no ammunition on board the aircraft when it crashed.
Debris from the aircraft was scattered across multiple locations, and the remains of the 20th victim were recovered on Thursday.
In Georgia, Interior Minister Gela Geladze said all critical components of the aircraft have been retrieved and were under examination as part of the investigation.
Over 1,000 people from Georgia and Turkey participated in the rescue and investigation efforts, he said.
Funerals will be held after the remains are returned to Turkey and autopsies are completed.
Investigators stand next to debris at a crash site of a Turkish military cargo plane in Georgia's Sighnaghi municipality, close to the Azerbaijani border on Wednesday, Nov. 12, 2025. (AP Photo/Zurab Tsertsvadze)
BELGRADE, Serbia (AP) — Serbia's protesting university students on Sunday collected signatures throughout the country for their request for an early parliamentary election that they hope would oust the autocratic government of President Aleksandar Vucic from office.
Braving freezing weather, the students set up nearly 500 stands in dozens of cities, towns and villages in the Balkan country for residents to sign the election demand, which isn't a formal petition. Students have said that Sunday’s action was meant to put further pressure on Vucic and as a test of support.
Young protesters have been at the forefront of a nationwide movement against Vucic's populist rule in Serbia. More than a year of street protests first started in November 2024 after a train station disaster that killed 16 people.
The concrete canopy collapse in the northern city of Novi Sad was widely blamed on alleged rampant corruption and disregard of construction and safety rules during renovation work at the station. No one has been held responsible for the tragedy.
Vucic has refused to schedule an immediate early vote, but has suggested that it could be held sometime next year. Both parliamentary and presidential elections are otherwise due in 2027.
“We have stands that serve to connect with the citizens," said Igor Dojnov, a student manning one of the points in central Belgrade.
Youth-led protests during the past year have shaken Vucic more than ever during his 13-year-long tenure. Serbia's populist prime minister resigned in January, and Vucic later launched a crackdown on protesters that also drew international criticism.
While street protests have subsided, discontent with Vucic's government is believed to be widespread.
Milca Cankovic Kadijevic, a resident of Belgrade, said that she supported the students, because “I have a desire to live decently — me, my children and my grandchildren."
Vucic has formally promised to take Serbia into the European Union, but he has maintained close links with Russia and China, while facing accusations of clamping down on democratic freedoms and allowing corruption and organized crime to flourish.
He has denied this, and accused the protesters of attempting to orchestrate a “color revolution” under unspecified orders from the West. The term “color revolution” has been used to describe a series of mass protests at the beginning of the 21st century that sometimes led to the toppling of governments in the former Soviet Union states, the former Yugoslavia, the Middle East and Asia.
Serbia's protesting university students collect signatures for their request for an early parliamentary election, in Belgrade, Serbia, Sunday, Dec. 28, 2025. (AP Photo/Darko Vojinovic)
Serbia's protesting university students collect signatures for their request for an early parliamentary election, in Belgrade, Serbia, Sunday, Dec. 28, 2025. (AP Photo/Darko Vojinovic)
People stand in silence to commemorate the 16 victims, killed after a railway concrete canopy fell in Nov. 2024 while Serbia's protesting university students collect signatures throughout the country for their request for an early parliamentary election, in Belgrade, Serbia, Sunday, Dec. 28, 2025. (AP Photo/Darko Vojinovic)
Serbia's protesting university students collect signatures for their request for an early parliamentary election, in Belgrade, Serbia, Sunday, Dec. 28, 2025. (AP Photo/Darko Vojinovic)
Serbia's protesting university students collect signatures for their request for an early parliamentary election, in Belgrade, Serbia, Sunday, Dec. 28, 2025. (AP Photo/Darko Vojinovic)
