6,900 hectares of land reduce to ashes: Minister

KONYA

Approximately 6,900 hectares of land have been reduced into ashes in 1,022 forest fires since the beginning of the year, with a significant portion of this damage occurring during the fires that took place between July 10 and 18, Agriculture and Forestry Minister İbrahim Yumaklı has informed.

"Last year during the same period, a total of 1,092 wildfires broke out and 8,100 hectares of land were damaged. The decrease in the number of forest fires and the affected area compared to last year is due to the preventive measures taken,” Yumaklı said during his speech at an event organized for the start of wheat harvest in the Central Anatolian province of Konya on July 29.

"We have observed that the time taken for initial intervention, detection, response and control has significantly decreased. It was also seen that within the last 18 days, there were 10 major fires that had the potential to grow significantly."

Reminding that nearly 90 percent of the wildfires were caused by human activities, Yumaklı noted that the Interior Ministry is continuing its research and investigations on the causes of this year's fires.

“However, so far, there have been no findings indicating any terrorist-related causes for this year's fires,” he added.

As Türkiye, like the rest of the world, is recently experiencing record-breaking temperatures and heatwaves, teams are facing prolonged battles with numerous forest fires.

A massive fire in the southern province of Antalya’s Kemer district that started late on July 24 was brought under control on July 28 after four days of intense firefighting efforts. The fire ravaged an area of 300 hectares, which is equivalent to approximately 420 football fields in size.