A chartered aircraft went down near Balad, north of Baghdad, on 9 January 2007, killing 30 of the 35 people aboard and wounding two others, Türkiye's foreign ministry confirmed.
The Moldovan-registered Antonov 26, operated by Aerian Tur Airlines, had departed Adana in southern Türkiye shortly after 6:00 a.m. and crashed near Balad's airport while attempting a second approach through heavy fog.
Most of the 30 passengers were construction workers with Kulak Construction, an Adana-based firm. One of the company's partners was also on the flight. Passengers included 29 Turkish nationals and one American; the five-member crew consisted of three Moldovans, a Russian, and a Ukrainian.
A senior aviation official dismissed reports of overloading, attributing the accident to weather conditions. Iraq's transport ministry said it had opened an investigation into the cause.
Turkish contractors have been among the most active foreign builders in post-2003 Iraq, competing for reconstruction tenders and regularly shipping goods across the border.
Historical summary. TurkishPress restated this wire report, first published in January 2007, in its own words.