Turkish mayor calls for urgent air support as fire encircles power plant

A mayor in Turkey's southwestern Muğla province has called for immediate air support as devastating wildfires encircle a thermal power plant, local media including the Diken news website reported.

Muhammet Tokat, the mayor of the Aegean coast city of Milas, took to Twitter on Tuesday to warn that the fires were out of control and were spreading up a hill toward the plant.

Eight people have been killed and forests across swathes of Turkey's Mediterranean and Aegean coasts have been razed as the country entered its seventh day of battling devastating wildfires.

"I wish I did not have to say this but the fire has come face-to-face with the power plant for the first time,’’ Tokat said. "Extending beyond this hill will mean that the fire's devastations will reach a new dimension." 

Durum çok ciddi. Termik santralin dibine geldi alevler. Varsa imkan derhal gece görüşü olan uçak ya da helikopter bölgeye yönlendirilsin…#milasyanıyor pic.twitter.com/WqQfjPyEUs

— Av. Muhammet Tokat (@MuhammetTokat48) August 3, 2021

Earlier on Tuesday, Turkey’s Defence Ministry has sent in troops to help firefighters wage a battle against wildfires that erupted near key tourist areas over the past week.

The ministry said on Tuesday it had sent 400 soldiers to the affected regions, along with equipment including four helicopters and more than 50 fire engines.

Most of the fires, which have spread across the south of the country and other areas during a heatwave, have been contained or extinguished, the government said.

In the province of Milas, in an area northeast of the resort town of Bodrum, a local mayor said a fire there was now out of control, threatening local housing.

Turkey has been battling wildfires with just a handful of planes, raising criticism that the government has left the country’s capacity to battle the blazes severely compromised. At the weekend, the government sought the help of the European Union, which agreed to send four planes to the affected areas. It had already accepted aid, including several aircraft, from countries including Russia and Azerbaijan.

In Gündoğmuş, an inland region northeast of the tourist city of Antalya, firefighters had brought a blaze that erupted on July 29 partly under control, the Diken news website reported.

In Milas, the situation was more serious, according to local officials.

“The fire crossed the critical threshold and moved towards housing estates. It was obvious that this would happen…” Muhammet Tokat, mayor of the Milas municipality, said in comments on Twitter. “I'm going to cry from my anger...”

Seeking to offset criticism of the government’s efforts, Fahrettin Altun, a spokesman for President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, published a statement on Twitter accompanied by a photo of five helicopters battling the blaze in Gündoğmuş. He also warned the public against inaccurate reports and comments published on social media.

The wildfires have also raised concern for the country’s tourism industry. Turkey relies on revenues from tourism to help bolster its troubled lira currency, which has slid to successive record lows over the past three years.

Some tourists have left affected regions. Occupancy rates in hotels in the southwest of the country have dropped by about 10 percent and reservations have been cut off, Diken said, citing Bülent Bülbüloğlu, head of a regional hotels association.

Late on Monday, Agriculture and Forestry Minister Bekir Pakdemirli said 137 of 150 fires had been brought under control since July 28. Equipment including sixteen planes and 51 helicopters, along with 5,200 personnel, were involved in the operations, he said.

Hürriyet newspaper reported from ashen land around the tourist hub of Marmaris yesterday, likening the damage to the devastation caused by the Hiroshima bomb. Fires were continuing near the adjacent tourist villages of İçmeler, Turunç and Hisarönü, strengthened by high winds, Diken said.

Fires were also blazing in the Manavgat region, which is popular with local and foreign visitors, and located about 60 kilometres east of Antalya.