Türkİye

Blazes contained in Antalya districts after 218 hours of firefighting, says Turkish foreign minister

Wildfires put out at critical points despite difficult conditions, strong winds: Mevlut Cavusoglu

Dilara Hamit  | 07.08.2021 - Update : 08.08.2021
Blazes contained in Antalya districts after 218 hours of firefighting, says Turkish foreign minister

ANKARA 

It took 218 hours of firefighting at full pace to contain forest fires in Antalya's Manavgat and Gundogmus districts, Turkey’s foreign minister said Friday.

Mevlut Cavusogly made the remarks before holding an evaluation meeting at the coordination center of the Disaster and Emergency Management Authority (AFAD) in Manavgat. He was accompanied by Minister of Environment and Urbanization Murat Kurum.

Cavusoglu said despite difficult conditions and strong winds, crews put out fires at critical points.

As many as 1,915 vehicles and 8,155 personnel were in the field Friday, while air forces carried out 1,600 sorties, he said, adding that 59 neighborhoods in five districts were affected by the fires that have lasted for nearly 10 days.


- Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan to support

The foreign minister said 40 fire trucks and 362 more personnel from Azerbaijan, and two helicopters and 16 personnel from Kazakhstan will come to Turkey to take part in the fight.

He added two planes were also rented from Israel, and two helicopters are on the way from the US.

Meanwhile, Kurum said 808 of 821 citizens in Antalya who were directly affected have been discharged after treatment.

He said 149 of 400 container installations in the province have been completed for citizens in urgent need, while 140 tents have been set up.

Kurum added that teams will be working to afforest the entire area within a year.

Turkey has successfully contained 202 wildfires in the last 10 days, according to the Turkish president.

The fires erupted in 46 of Turkey's 81 provinces, Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Twitter.

At least eight people have been killed since the fires started on July 28.


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