ISTANBUL
The Turkish president spoke by phone with Libya’s prime minister on Wednesday, expressing condolences over the plane crash that killed Libya's army chief in Türkiye, according to the Turkish communications director.
During the call with Abdul Hamid Dbeibah, Türkiye’s Recep Tayyip Erdogan “expressed his sorrow and condolences over the loss of life in the plane crash carrying Libya’s Chief of Staff, Gen. Mohammed Ali Al-Haddad, and those accompanying him,” said Burhanettin Duran.
Turkish Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya earlier said that the wreckage of the Falcon 50-type business jet, which took off from the capital Ankara’s Esenboga Airport en route to Tripoli, was found by gendarmerie teams about 2 kilometers (1.24 miles) south of Kesikkavak in Ankara’s Haymana district.
The jet’s black box and cockpit voice recorder were recovered early Wednesday, Yerlikaya said.
The process of examining these devices to determine the cause of the crash has begun, he added.
Following the deaths, Libya’s Government of National Unity declared three days of national mourning.