A Turkish C-130 military cargo plane has crashed in Georgia after taking off from Azerbaijan en route back to Turkey, the Turkish defence ministry says.

It said search and rescue operations were underway in co-ordination with Georgian and Azeri authorities but did not provide any other details on the cause of the crash or the casualties.

The ministry's statement on X did not make clear how many crew were on board the aircraft, which it said crashed near the Azerbaijan-Georgia border.

Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan said he was hoping to overcome the crash with minimum casualties and offered his condolences for "our martyrs" on the aircraft.

C-130 military cargo planes are widely used by Turkey's armed forces for transporting personnel and handling logistical operations.

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