Agriculture and Forestry Minister Ibrahim Yumaklı said Thursday that Türkiye had faced 624 wildfires across the country in just the past week, 621 of which have been brought under control.
Speaking from the General Directorate of Forestry’s Fire Management Center, Yumaklı described the past week as one of the most intense periods in Türkiye’s wildfire response efforts. Since the start of the year, a total of 3,044 fires have broken out — 1,305 in forested areas and 1,739 in non-forested zones, he said.
“This year we are fighting with the largest air and ground fleet in the republic’s history, supported by 25,000 experienced personnel,” he said, noting that aircraft have conducted 16,035 sorties since early summer, dropping 52,000 tons of water.
Yumaklı highlighted that 624 of the total fires occurred just in the last week — nearly one-fifth of this year’s total.
“Out of those 624 fires, 621 have been contained. Today alone, we fought nine major fires, and six of them are now under control,” Yumaklı stated.
He listed fires brought under control in Antalya, Mersin, Kırklareli, İstanbul (Silivri), Adana (Ceyhan), and Uşak (Eşme). He added that the fire in Izmir’s Çeşme district had lost intensity, expressing hope for positive updates soon.
However, the blaze in Izmir’s Ödemiş district had rapidly spread due to strong winds, Yumaklı said, adding that efforts were continuing amid difficult weather conditions.
Yumaklı also reported the death of a firefighting personnel during operations and said another was hospitalized and in critical condition. An 81-year-old civilian also died in Ödemiş. “May God have mercy on them all,” he said.
Calling on personnel to remain strong, Yumaklı reminded the public that the General Directorate of Forestry ranks second only to Türkiye’s armed forces in the number of martyrs lost in service.
“We’re determined to carry on our duty and honor their sacrifice. I hope we lose no more of our brave colleagues who fight like soldiers to protect our homeland,” he said.
Yumaklı also noted that 10 aircraft, 25 helicopters, fire trucks, rapid response vehicles, and all available resources from DSI, municipalities and other agencies had been deployed in Izmir. Efforts in Buca and Ödemiş would continue, he added.
The minister warned against disinformation and statements that could demoralize those battling on the ground. “No one has the right to break the spirit of our teams. Everyone should act responsibly. Let all 86 million citizens of this country support this superhuman effort.”
He urged the public to take extreme caution amid forecasts of high winds, low humidity and extreme temperatures in the coming days, stressing that even a spark could trigger a wildfire.
“We’re not proud of putting out fires — we want to be proud of preventing them,” he said.
Yumaklı also pointed to large-scale fires in Izmir, Sakarya, Hatay, Bilecik, Manisa, Istanbul, and Bursa in the past week. “In these provinces, we saw the potential of fires on the scale of the devastating 2021 blazes. Thankfully, with the strongest air and ground response in our history, we achieved strong results.”
