Wildfires destroyed up to 7000 hectares of land in Turkey: Minister

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Turkey’s Minister of Agriculture and Forestry said on Saturday that the wildfires in the country have destroyed close to 7,000 hectares of forests since the start of the year, days after a wildfire was brought under control in the southwestern Antalya province.

“This year, all over the country, around 6,900 hectares of land were damaged in 1022 wildfires,” Ibrahim Yumakli, Turkey’s minister of agriculture and forestry said in a press conference, counting smaller fires that had been recorded in the country so far in 2023. 

Yumakli said 18 wildfires caused the largest amount of damages destroying over 5,800 hectares of land, 17 of which happened between 10-18 July this year.

“Our focus point is to minimize the damages,” Yumakli said.

Wildfires started in the forests of Kemer in southwestern Antalya province last Sunday and continued for four days, destroying more than 220 hectares of the forests, according to Turkey’s general directorate of forests.

The fire in Kemer was brought under control on Thursday, as well as other wildfires in the forests of Kinik and Odemis in the province of Izmir, western Turkey.

Antalya is one of the most famous tourist destinations during the summer, being home to a number of resorts and hotels. 

Wildfires in Turkey during the summer are not a new occurrence. Last year wildfires destroyed an area of over 8,100 hectares. Yumakli boasted that the current decrease in the amount of damage is due to the precautions taken by the ministry.

The largest wildfire in Turkey’s history, known as Manavgat Wildfire, started in July 2021 and lasted for more than two weeks. A total of 299 forests caught fire all over the country, resulting in eight deaths and over 1,500 people injured.

Investigations are still underway to determine the reasons behind the 2021 fire though Turkish state media at the time pointed fingers at the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), which Turkey labels as a terrorist group, to be the invisible hand behind the wildfires.

Yumakli said that 90 percent of the reasons behind the wildfires are due to human activities, and the interior ministry is currently investigating the fires.  He said that this year they don’t see any connection with what he labeled as “terrorist acts”.