Turkey to send two firefighting aircraft to Greece

ANKARA

Turkey will send two aircraft to Greece in a bid to support its neighbor’s efforts in tackling the devastating wildfires that have erupted across the country for the past week.

Ankara will provide aircraft to Greece as forest fires in Turkey have mostly been brought under control, the agriculture and forestry minister said on Aug. 9.

“Greece has a demand for planes from us, we look at it positively. Two 40-ton aircraft used by the [General Directorate of Forestry] OGM has been prepared and will depart if the procedures are completed by the Foreign Ministry of the relevant country,” Agriculture and Forestry Minister Bekir Pakdemirli told reporters.

Turkey will send two firefighting airplanes to Greece following a phone call with Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu, Greek Foreign Minister Nikos Dendias said on Aug. 9.

“I thanked him [Çavuşoğlu] as he informed me that two Turkish firefighting airplanes will be sent to Greece, as, he added, wildfires in Turkey are now under control,” Dendias wrote on Twitter.

Turkey’s foreign minister sent a message of condolence to his Greek counterpart on Aug. 6 over the recent wildfires in the country.

In a phone call, Çavuşoğlu conveyed Turkey’s wishes for a quick recovery in Greece to Dendias, whose country has been fighting wildfires that have left acres of forestland in ashes and forced the evacuation of thousands of people, according to the Foreign Ministry.

The fires broke out last week during Greece’s worst heatwave in three decades, with searing temperatures and dry heat causing tinder box conditions.