Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said the black box of the Turkish military plane that crashed in Georgia en route from Azerbaijan to Turkey has been found. The news came during Erdogan's speech, which was broadcast live on social media, BTA reported.
Erdogan stressed that immediately after the incident, Turkey's defense, interior and foreign ministers - Yasar Guler, Ali Yerlikaya and Hakan Fidan - made contact with their counterparts in Georgia and Azerbaijan.
Search and rescue operations began immediately. Cooperation with the Georgian authorities has begun to provide footage of the plane crash.
"That same evening at 5 p.m., we received the news that they had reached the remains of the plane. The place where they are located was cordoned off by a police cordon due to security measures. Again last night, our 46-person incident investigation team was sent to the area. The black box of our plane has been found. Examinations and analyses have begun. We have reached the bodies of 19 of our heroically deceased servicemen. The search for the last body continues," Erdogan said.
The Turkish president announced that he had held telephone conversations with both Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev and Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze in this regard.
He stated that Georgia and Azerbaijan are providing support and assistance. Erdogan assured that he was following every minute of the activities at the scene of the incident and that everything possible would be done to clarify the reasons for what happened.
Erdogan stated that the Ministry of Defense and the Directorate of Communications of the Presidency of the Republic of Turkey would continue to inform the public and called for vigilance against manipulation and disinformation, especially on social networks.