The European Union provided help to Turkey on Monday. Volunteers and firefighters extinguished a week of violent fires that have killed 8 people and reported to President Recep Tayyip Erdogan (Recep Tayyip Erdogan). put pressure on.
The wildfires that swept through resorts along the Mediterranean and Aegean coasts of Turkey destroyed large tracts of virgin forest and forced panicked tourists to evacuate from the hotel.
But they also allowed Erdogan-facing elections two years later, which may extend his rule to a third decade-to receive a new round of criticism because he seems to be slow and out of touch.
Over the weekend, the Turkish leader was particularly strongly criticized for throwing tea bags at locals while visiting one of the worst-hit areas under the close escort of the police.
The government also revealed that there were no firefighting aircraft in its inventory and had to rely on foreign aid to extinguish the fire.
Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu thanked Brussels on Monday for sending one plane from Croatia and two planes from Spain.
The EU stated that “it is fully united with Turkey at this very difficult time”-a message aimed at showing goodwill after more than a year of fierce disputes.
On Monday, firefighters also fought local fires in the Aegean island of Rhodes, Greece, and parts of Italy and Spain.
Driven by soaring temperatures and strong winds-experts say climate change has increased the frequency and intensity of such fires-EU data shows that this year’s fire season is more destructive than most fire seasons.
“Extraordinary”
Erdogan’s office initially attributed Turkey’s worst fire in at least a decade to arsonists, that is, pro-government media related to the deadly rebellion launched by banned Kurdish militants against the country.
But with the increase in the number of fires, the increase in deaths, and the passage of time, this theory seems to disappear.
The Turkish Forest Service stated that there have been 105 fires in 35 cities and towns across the country since Wednesday.
It said seven of them — most of them not far from the southern resort cities of Antalya and Marmaris — continued to burn on Monday.
An AFP team in Marmaris in the Aegean Sea saw flames burning quickly on the forest-covered hills.
The night sky was glowing with amber light, and the smoke-filled air was heavy and hard to breathe under the suffocating heat of around 40 degrees Celsius (104 degrees Fahrenheit).
The weather service warned locals of poor air quality, volunteers could not sleep all night, and helped exhausted firefighters save the dense forest from damage that experts say may take generations to recover.
“This is a disaster,” said the temporary assistance center set up by resident Evran Ozkan on both sides of the road leading to the burning hill.
“Like me, many residents of Marmaris cannot sleep peacefully with their heads on their pillows when these fires burn.”
A firefighter with a flashlight wrapped around his forehead sat there, eating simple meals in a container and drinking bottled water collected by locals from neighboring towns.
Emergency ships are on standby on the Marmaris coastline to evacuate anyone if the fire spreads and the town is cut off.
“We must be responsible for our land to prevent our future from being burned down,” Ozcan said, “but the situation is really bad now.”
