Faced with the progression of fires that have ravaged the country for five days, foreign tourists and Turkish residents were evacuated from their hotels and homes, Sunday 1er August, in southern Turkey.
In the upscale resort town of Bodrum, a neighborhood was evacuated, as the flames were fanned by strong winds from the nearby Milas district, reported the TV channel CNN Turkey. Unable to take the road, 540 people were evacuated by boat, according to the channel. In the tourist town of Antalya, other evacuations also took place, according to the channel NTV, which showed images of black smoke enveloping houses.
133 fires in 2021
Turkey is currently experiencing the worst fires in at least a decade, according to official data, with nearly 95,000 hectares gone up in smoke this year, compared to an average of 13,516 between 2008 and 2020 at the same time. According to data released by the European Union, Turkey has been ravaged by 133 fires in 2021 so far, compared to an average of 43 between 2008 and 2020. Six people have died in the fires in recent weeks.
Turkish Agriculture and Forestry Minister Bekir Pakdemirli said 107 out of 112 forest fires were now under control, but in the tourist areas of Antalya and Mugla the fires were persisting.
Temperatures should remain high after records reached last month, such as 49.1 ° C recorded on July 20 in Cizre (extreme south-east of the country, in Anatolia). Mercury is expected to reach 40 ° C in Antalya on Monday, according to forecasts.
The Turkish Defense Ministry released satellite images showing the extent of damage to forests, which had been black with soot and with fumes still visible.
President Recep Tayyip Erdogan was the target of criticism when it turned out that Turkey did not have water bomber planes, as the problem of fires worsened in that country, including a third of the territory is forested. The main opposition party, the CHP (Republican People’s Party, Social Democrat), accused the Turkish president of having dismantled the infrastructure of a semi-public organization which held water bombers.