Forest fires have been raging in Turkey since Wednesday. The fires transform the holiday paradise on the Mediterranean coast into a hell of flames. 63 fires were counted by Friday morning.
According to official information, three people died. Including a man (25) who wanted to contribute fire water, as reported by the state television TRT. On the way to the scene of the fire, he was killed in a traffic accident.
Tourists from Switzerland are also affected by the inferno. One of them is Ferhat Temiz (40) from Gossau SG. The key account manager is on vacation in Turkey with his wife and two children. The family has rented a holiday home in Marmaris on the Turkish Riviera.
A hot birthday instead of relaxed celebrations
It was Temiz’s birthday on Thursday. But: “We didn’t feel like celebrating,” said the St. Gallen resident on Friday on the phone to Blick. “We had to check that the wind wasn’t blowing the fire near us.”
There is still a fire on Friday. “About five kilometers from the holiday home, an entire stretch of forest is on fire.” Since the whole city of Marmaris is surrounded by forest, there could suddenly be acute danger, explains Temiz: “It’s only 50 meters from our holiday home to the nearest forest!”
The family wants to travel to Bodrum on Saturday. The problem: “The hotel where we wanted to spend eight days was evacuated yesterday because of the fires.” The tour operator in Switzerland had assured him, however, that the family did not have to fear any losses. Specifically: “There is the possibility of staying in another hotel in Bodrum,” says the 40-year-old.
“The flames were impressive for all of us”
Nevertheless: The Gossauer did not imagine the holidays in Turkey to be like this. “The flames were impressive for all of us.” His five-year-old daughter was very upset. “It made an impression on her.” Temiz also makes it sad that the beautiful bays of Marmaris are burned.
On Friday afternoon he and his wife walk closer to the fires. “We want to try to provide help,” says Temiz. When the two are on site, things suddenly get dangerous. “A fire is kindled right in front of us,” the family man later tells Blick. “We were about five meters away. We were afraid.”
Wetziker give fires a headache
Shahyar Jahangiri (47) from Wetzikon ZH is staying with his loved ones a few 100 kilometers east of Marmaris. The father of the family is staying at the hotel in Side with his wife and two children. They also have fires. “Not ten kilometers away,” he said to Blick on Friday.
Not without consequences. “I had a headache yesterday afternoon. Probably because of the carbon monoxide that is in the air as a result of the fires. “
The problem with the situation is heat, drought and wind. «The last few days it was over 40 degrees. Because of the wind, the fire starts to burn again and again in different places. “
Traces can also be seen in the hotel, explains Jahangiri. «Ashes fall from the sky. The staff is cleaning the balconies and the pool all the time. “
Solothurner reports a tense mood
Also nearby is Mischa Jeger (24) from Nunningen SO with his girlfriend. The couple are on vacation in a hotel between Manavgat and Kizilagac. “The mood in our hotel was tense,” he said to Blick on Friday. “Especially yesterday, when the helicopters fetched the water from the beach and disappeared behind the hotel.”
Corina Abdelgalil (39) from Zurich is on the coast near Manavgat. She is on vacation there with her husband and three sons. What bothers them most is that they have no information about the current situation. “We don’t know whether the fire could be dangerous for us.”
Hardly any more staff in the hotel
On Saturday at 6:10 a.m., the family flies back from Antalya to Zurich. “We don’t know if and how we’ll get to the airport,” says Abdelgalil. “We haven’t heard anything about whether someone will pick us up.”
The atmosphere of the end of the world also prevails in the hotel: “There are hardly any staff here, nobody is cleaning.” And: “It rains ash and soot from the sky all day,” says the Zurich native.
The cause of the fire is still unclear. According to Turkey’s Foreign Minister Mevlüt Cavusoglu, three people were arrested in connection with the fires. That sparked speculation as to whether arson could be behind the inferno.