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Turkey evacuates over 50,000 people from regions affected by wildfires.
Turkey has evacuated more than 50,000 people from regions affected by forest fires across the country, with the western province of Izmir accounting for the majority of evacuations, the country’s disaster agency said on Monday.
Fires have swept through parts of Izmir, Bilecik, Hatay, Sakarya, and Manisa provinces, prompting authorities to relocate residents from 41 different settlements to temporary safe zones, according to the Disaster and Emergency Management Authority (AFAD).
Forestry Minister Ibrahim Yumakli said on Monday that the blaze was fanned overnight by winds reaching 40-50kmph (25-30mph) in Kuyucak and Doganbey areas of Izmir.
Over the past three days, emergency teams have responded to 263 wildfires nationwide, Turkish Agriculture and Forestry Minister Ibrahim Yumakli said during a press briefing in Izmir on Monday.
Later on Monday, the AFAD disaster agency said on X that “a total of over 50,000 citizens from 41 settlements have been temporarily relocated to safe areas”, saying most of them were from fires raging near the western resort of Izmir.
Helicopters, fire-extinguishing aircraft and other vehicles, and more than 1,000 people were trying to extinguish the fires, Yumakli told reporters in Izmir.
The worst blaze began Sunday in Seferihisar, a forested area 50 kilometres southwest of the resort city of Izmir, spreading rapidly with winds of up to 120 kilometres per hour, officials said.
Overnight, around 20 evacuated homes were gutted by the blaze, with only the walls left standing, footage on private TV network NTV showed.
Residents in the seaside village of Urkmez had on Sunday felled trees to create firebreaks and protect their homes as the flames advanced, a witness told AFP.
“Unfortunately, the wind is continuing to blow very strongly,” Agriculture and Forestry Minister Ibrahim Yumakli told reporters on Monday afternoon. The Turkish State Meteorological Service warned about strong winds over the weekend.
FLIGHTS BRIEFLY SUSPENDED
Yumakli said more than 1,000 people had been drafted in to tackle the blaze with four planes, 14 helicopters and 106 fire trucks.
AFAD said another 3,000 residents were evacuated from Manisa, 40 kilometres north of Izmir. Another 1,500 people were forced out of their homes in the southern Hatay region, where four helicopters, 211 fire engines and 540 firefighters were fighting a blaze some 10 kilometres north of the city of Antakya, the governor said.
Around 850 others were forced to flee from two other wildfires in northwestern Turkey, AFAD said.
Meanwhile, Justice Minister Yilmaz Tunc said on X that one person had been arrested for allegedly starting one of the wildfires in the Izmir area with gasoline.
“The suspect is alleged to have set fire to their own residence, (which) subsequently caused a forest fire,” he wrote, without giving further details.
WAM / AFP