Wildfires Continue in Turkey; Nearly 200 Fires in 38 States Within 10 Days [Hashtag]

Turkey is facing the deadliest wildfires in decades, which were estimated at more than 192 fires as of July 28, 2021, it invaded forests, agricultural lands, and residential areas. A large number of social media pioneers interacted with the development of events through several hashtags, most notably: #TurkeyIsOnFire.

The wildfires that broke out in 38 states so far have killed 9 civilians, 916 people were infected, 50 of whom are still receiving treatment.

The wildfires destroyed large areas of forests and rich agricultural lands along the coasts of the Mediterranean and Aegean Seas, estimated at about 100,000 hectares (250,000 acres).

On August 05, 2021, Minister of Agriculture and Forestry Bekir Bak Demirli said: “Out of the 192 fires that broke out in the country, 180 fires were brought under control in nine days.”

He pointed out that “12 fires are still ongoing, two of them in Antalya, and seven in Mugla, in addition to one fire each in Aiden, Densley and Sparta.”

The wildfires also affected tourist sites that recently resumed activity after months of restrictions imposed to contain the outbreak of the Covid-19 epidemic.

The European Union's Satellite Center (SatCen) reported that “the wildfires in Turkey had reached an intensity unprecedented since 2003.”

 

Who Started these Fires?

On July 31, 2021, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan announced - in a tweet on his Twitter account - the states of Antalya, Mugla, Mersin, Adana and Osmaniye are fire-affected areas.

Subsequently, during speaking to journalists, Erdogan said: “It is not a coincidence, the wildfires started almost simultaneously in more than one province in southern Turkey.”

He pledged that the government would do everything possible to help hundreds of people affected by the disaster return to their normal lives.

In turn, Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said: “Who started these fires? We have doubts. All of our institutions are conducting a thorough investigation into this matter. Suspects have been arrested.”

Investigators are trying to ascertain whether some of the fires were started intentionally, amid reports of the arrest of several suspects.

In the early days of the fires, journalists accused the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), which Turkey and its Western allies consider a terrorist organization, of causing the fires.

 

Political Benefit

On the other hand, the opposition parties escalated their rhetoric. Accusing the government of negligence in response operations, and criticizing the great lack of suppression mechanisms. In particular, it raised the issue of aircraft belonging to the Turkish Airlines (THK), which is said to have not been used yet.

While Erdogan accused the opposition of seeking political benefit from the disastrous situation. He said: “Wildfires are as international a threat as the Covid pandemic... Like anywhere in the world. There has been a sharp increase in wildfires in our country, there should be no room for politics in this case.”

In the same context, the Turkish President thanked all countries and organizations that supported his country in fighting wildfires. 

Noting that the Turkish government has deployed about 4,000 personnel, along with hundreds of emergency vehicles, water planes and ships to help put out the fires.

In turn, the Deputy Director General of Forestry in Turkey, Mustafa Ozkaya, announced “12 planes and 6 helicopters were sent by 6 countries (Azerbaijan, Iran, Russia, Croatia, Spain and Ukraine) to help Turkey to put out the wildfires that have been witnessing since July 28, 2021.”

Touching videos were shown over the weekend, evacuations of tourists from beach resorts by boat, with the participation of Turkish coast guard ships in the rescue operations.

Turkish farmers gathered panicked cattle and dragged them toward the shore as the fires continued.

 

Annual Wildfires

This is not the first time that fires have broken out in Turkey's forests, during the past weeks, Turkish firefighting teams announced that they had controlled several fires that spread from the Syrian side.

According to official data between 8 and 10 thousand hectares of forests are burned annually in Turkey.

11,000 hectares were damaged in 2019, and 20,938 hectares were burned in 2020, according to the data of the General Directorate of Forests.

Turkey has suffered 133 wildfires so far in 2021, compared to an average of 43 wildfires so far this year from 2008 to 2020, according to the data of the European Union.

Experts believe that heat waves are a clear sign of global warming, these heat waves are expected to be repeated, extended and intensified, and to increase the frequency and severity of such fires.

Temperatures are expected to remain high in the region after hitting record levels last month.