Turkish firefighting teams are continuing their operations to extinguish forest fires by land and air in the district of Manavgat in the southwestern state of Antalya, while Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said that his country has begun investigating indications of terrorism's link to the outbreak of those fires.
Turkish firefighting teams managed to control 111 forest fires across the country, while efforts are continuing to put out 6 fires.
The Turkish Minister of Agriculture and Forestry, Bekir Pakdemirli, said in a tweet via Twitter on Sunday that most of the fires that broke out between July 28 and August 1 have been brought under control.
He pointed out that work is continuing to put out 6 fires that are still ongoing, two of them in Antalya, 3 in Mugla (south and southwest), and one fire in Tongeli (east).
Anadolu Agency stated that the firefighting teams are continuing to work to control the fires raging in the area, and that many helicopters that arrived in the area are unloading their cargo of water over the flames at a rate of 4 times per minute.
The minister added that firefighting teams and forest workers continue to work to put out fires through fire engines, and citizens contribute to this by carrying firefighting equipment and water hoses.
He pointed out that the teams controlled the fire on the side of the highway, indicating that it was continuing in the forest area.
Forest fires broke out in several states in southern and southwestern Turkey, including Antalya, Adana, Mugla, Mersin and Osmaniye, which President Erdogan declared disaster areas.
Two Turkish satellites monitor forest fires
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Deaths and injuries
The death toll from forest fires rose to 8, after two bodies were found on Sunday, officials said, while more people were evacuated.
The two bodies were found in the town of Manavgat in Antalya province, Health Minister Fahrettin Koca said on Twitter.
Official data showed that Turkey is witnessing some of the worst fires in at least a decade, with about 95,000 hectares destroyed so far this year, compared to an average of 13,516 so far this year between 2008 and 2020.
Since the fires broke out last Wednesday, more than 864 people have received medical treatment, according to the health minister.
Today, Sunday, the mayor of Bodrum's tourist municipality, Ahmet Aras, said that a number of its neighborhoods were evacuated, as the fire caught fire due to strong winds from the nearby Milas area.
He said that more than 1,100 residents were transported to another part of Bodrum on about 20 boats, as it was not possible to evacuate people by land.
Residents of the city of Marmaris in Mugla province were also evacuated by boat with the help of the navy, according to the Defense Ministry.
Investigation of terrorist motives
In this context, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said that his country has started an investigation into indications of terrorism's link to the outbreak of dozens of forest fires in the south of the country.
Yesterday evening, Saturday, in front of a crowd of citizens in the Marmaris region of Mugla state, where the fires are continuing, President Erdogan said that "if we prove that there is a link to terrorism with forest fires, and we have reached some indications, we will follow the matter to the end and do what is necessary."
The Turkish president added, "Our security forces, with their various arms and intelligence, are conducting investigations into the fires, and just as you think, it also comes to our minds that terrorist organizations may have a hand in the outbreak of these fires, and the terrorist organization announced last year that it would burn our forests."
Who started the fires?
On Friday, Erdogan said - in press statements - that the issue of the fires "is not a coincidence, the fires started almost simultaneously in more than one province in the south of Turkey," adding, "We must stand together on this day, take a unified decision and take united steps in one direction." together".
"Who started these fires? We have doubts. All our institutions are conducting a thorough investigation into this matter, and suspects have been arrested," Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu said on the same day from the devastated region of Manavgat.
The authorities arrested 5 people in Osmaniye district, on suspicion of their connection to the outbreak of fires in this area, and the private news agency "Demiroren" (DHE) stated that it was also believed that two boys accidentally set the fire that swept through Marmaris.
The Turkish president promised to compensate the victims, and the Turkish Minister of Agriculture and Forestry, Bekir Pakdemirli, said that 101 fires broke out in the past four days, 91 of which were controlled.
Satellite images showed the smoke from Antalya and Mersin reaching the island of Cyprus, about 150 km away.
Turkish radio and television stations said a new fire broke out on Saturday in the town of Bodrum, a popular holiday resort and holiday destination on the Aegean coast, and some residential areas and hotels were evacuated.
The south of Turkey usually sees forest fires during the hot summer months, but local authorities say that the recent fires covered larger areas, and were fueled by high temperature, humidity and high winds.