Turkey's leader says wildfires the country's worst ever
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A man in the vicinity of a forest fire close to the Kemerkoy thermal power plant in Milas, Turkey, on Wednesday. In the past two weeks, fires in Turkey have razed more than three times the area affected in an average year, said a European fire agency. Neighbouring countries have also battled blazes fanned by heatwaves and strong winds.
PHOTO: AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE
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MILAS (Turkey) • Turkey is battling the worst wildfires in its history, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has said, as blazes spread to a power station in the country's south-west after reducing swathes of coastal forest to ashes.
Fanned by high temperatures and a strong, dry wind, the fires have forced thousands of Turks and foreign tourists to flee homes and hotels near the Aegean and Mediterranean coasts.
Eight people have died in the blazes since last week.
Planes and dozens of helicopters have joined scores of emergency crews on the ground to battle the fires, but Mr Erdogan's government has faced criticism over the scale and speed of the response.
More than a week after the first fires broke out, 16 were still burning on Wednesday, the forestry minister said.
"The fires that happened this year never happened in our history," Mr Erdogan said in a televised interview on Wednesday. "This is the largest (outbreak)."
In the past two weeks, fires in Turkey have razed more than three times the area affected in an average year, said a European fire agency. Neighbouring countries have also battled blazes fanned by heatwaves and strong winds.
Flames that threatened a coal-fired power station in Turkey's fire-ravaged south-west were extinguished, the local authorities said yesterday after workers and residents were evacuated overnight by ship when fire broke out in the plant's grounds.
"There were no explosions in the plant and no chemicals were spread," the western coastal municipality of Mugla said in a statement.
Mr Erdogan's communications director Fahrettin Altun said the blaze had not damaged the main units of the Kemerkoy plant.
Plumes of smoke rose above the trees and helicopters poured water over areas near the plant.
Local officials, many from the opposition Republican People's Party, have complained that the government response has been slow or inadequate.
Firefighting planes from Spain and Croatia joined teams from Russia, Iran, Ukraine and Azerbaijan this week to battle blazes, after Turkey requested European support.
Opposition parties criticised Mr Erdogan and his government for depleting firefighting resources over the years.
Thousands also took to social media calling for him to step down, while others criticised the lack of resources.
The government has defended its response to the wildfires, saying its efforts have been planned and coordinated.
REUTERS
