The Directorate of Communications' Disinformation Combatting Center has dismissed claims circulating online that the recent wildfires in Türkiye’s Izmir, Manisa and Hatay provinces were linked to the PKK terrorist group.
In a statement shared on the center’s official social media account, authorities clarified that the allegations are based on old and misleading content, distorted from its original context, and deliberately presented as disinformation.
The center emphasized that provocations during ongoing disasters, particularly those targeting public institutions or sowing panic among citizens, are unacceptable both in the eyes of the law and public conscience.
An investigation into the origins of the claims revealed that the visuals and text used to support the narrative were taken from a website known as Nuçe Ciwan, dated Oct. 10, 2020.
The site is known for spreading PKK propaganda, and the content has no connection with the current fires, according to the center.
“Our government acts with zero tolerance in the fight against terrorism and investigates all sabotage possibilities, including those related to forest fires,” the statement said. “However, promoting baseless claims as political tools is a form of disinformation that is as dangerous as the fires themselves.”
Officials urged the public to verify information they encounter online, especially regarding disaster-related incidents. Citizens were reminded to cross-check the sources, confirm the dates and context of any shared visuals, and rely primarily on official statements.
The PKK is known to use arson attacks as a sabotage technique, often hailed as such by the PKK’s de facto leader, Murat Karayılan.
The group was also blamed for a series of wildfires that raged across Türkiye’s 52 provinces in the Mediterranean, Aegean, Marmara, Western Black Sea and southeastern Anatolia regions in the summer of 2021. The flames claimed at least eight lives and injured over 1,520 others.
In December 2023, Turkish authorities discovered a PKK plot for sabotage acts in the country. They detained 38 suspects linked to its “sabotage team” that regularly paid the suspects to run reconnaissance on potential targets.
One of the suspects confessed to police that he set fire to marinas in the Aegean resort city of Bodrum in January 2022 in exchange for TL 185,000, which amounted to roughly $10,000 at the time.
Similarly, in October 2020, the PKK claimed an attack where four arsonists linked to the “Children of Fire Initiative” burned forestland in southern Hatay province.
The so-called “initiative” was responsible for many arsons in recent years, and it is known for its close ties to the PKK. It has claimed the environmental destruction they caused was a so-called act of revenge.
In May, the PKK announced the end of its decades-long terror campaign as part of the "terror-free Türkiye initiative." The terrorists are now preparing to lay down arms and disband for good.
