In this article, Jardar explains the situation in Turkey.
Photo Credit: Al Jazeera
Last year massive forest fires happened in California and Australia but now the new victim of wildfires is Turkey. Turkey has had severe heatwaves and months of dry weather and that has created the worst wildfires the country has faced in recent years. Experts say that the wildfires are a consequence of climate change.
Over the past week, 130 wildfires have been reported across 30 Turkish provinces. Most of the fires are happening in the southern part of the country where the Mediterranean Sea ignites with Aegean Sea. On many coastal cities like Alanya the fires are seen closing into the cities.
Turkey has deployed around 4000 personnel and vehicles to stop the expansion of the fires. Countries like Croatia, Iran, Spain, Russia, Ukraine, and Azerbaijan have aided them with equipment and personnel. The city of Bodrum evacuated 1,100 people using more than 20 boats. The fires hit the countryside very badly. Many farms have lost their homes, their income and the livestock. Recent report says more than 2000 farm animals have lost their lives.
Turkish fire services have managed to bring most of the wildfires under control, but there are fires still left to be controlled. A new report says the fires have also been spread to countries close to Turkey, Albania, Greece and Lebanon.
Some Turkish top Officials blame the PKK for igniting the wildfires. They have started an investigation on the matter. The PKK is a Kurdish military organization. Their goal is to create an independent Kurdish state where Kurds can live a life without persecution. The PKK is listed as a terrorist organization by the US, EU and Turkey. But that idea is not very likely because the wildfires also hit Kurdish majority provinces too. This idea takes away the real problem of the wildfire's climate change.
Sources
Nasa earth observatory (03.08.2021) fires rage in turkey https://www.earthobservatory.nasa.gov/images/148650/fires-rage-in-turkey 04.08.2021
Daily Sabah(04.08.2021) Forest fires, new and old, burn across Turkey’s west and south https://www.dailysabah.com/turkey/forest-fires-new-and-old-burn-across-turkeys-west-and-south/news 04.08.2021
CNN(02.08.2021) The animals are on fire,say devastated farmers as wildfires sweep Turkey https://edition.cnn.com/2021/07/31/world/turkey-wildfires-manavgat-six-dead-intl/index.html 04.08.2021