Wildfires threaten turkey's fourth-largest city as locals are evacuated
By morning, lessening winds brought some respite to firefighters who continued efforts to bring down the flames. However, TV footage revealed an ashen landscape where farms and pine forests had earlier stood. Turkey has been hit by dozens of wildfires daily since late June. Forestry Minister Ibrahim Yamukli said fire crews across the country confronted 76 separate blazes Saturday. The fires are being fueled by unseasonably high temperatures, dry conditions and string winds. The General Directorate of Meteorology said Turkey recorded its highest ever temperature, 50.5C (122.9F), in the southeastern Sirnak province on Friday. The highest temperatures for July were seen in 132 other locations, it added.
Yamukli said the country's northwest was under the greatest threat, including Karabuk where wildfires have burned since Tuesday. Thirteen people have died in recent weeks, including 10 rescue volunteers and forestry workers killed Wednesday in a fire in Eskisehir in western Turkey. Justice Minister Yilmaz Tunc said late Saturday that prosecutors had investigated fires in 33 provinces since June 26, adding that legal action had been taken against 97 suspects. The severity of the fires led the government to declare two western provinces, Izmir and Bilecik, disaster areas on Friday.
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