In a statement on Tuesday night, Esmaeil Baqaei offered sympathy to the government and people of Turkey following the tragic incident, praying for divine mercy upon the victims.

Turkey has launched an investigation into the crash of a military cargo plane on the border region between the republic of Azerbaijan and Georgia.

The Turkish C-130 cargo aircraft carrying 20 military personnel went down Tuesday after departing from Azerbaijan en route to Turkey.

The number of casualties and the cause of the crash remain unclear.