Agriculture and Forestry Minister Yumaklı announces '7 ongoing wildfires': 5 villages and 2 neighborhoods evacuated

Minister of Agriculture and Forestry İbrahim Yumaklı stated that they are fighting an enemy that has the wind at its back, does not tire, does not rest, and tries to neutralize the interventions made against it, adding, "We will win this war; I trust my forest hero colleagues."

Minister Yumaklı received information from officials regarding the forest fires that broke out between the Menderes and Seferihisar districts at the İzmir Regional Directorate of Forestry Fire Operations Center, and subsequently made statements to members of the press.

Stating that the fires in Aydın's Sultanhisar, Muğla's Bodrum, Balıkesir's Bigadiç, and Bursa's İznik have been brought under control following his statement in Manisa's Akhisar district, Yumaklı noted that the fires in Manisa's Akhisar, Kula, and Ahmetli districts, İzmir's Seferihisar and Menderes districts, and Hatay are still ongoing.

Yumaklı reported that some residential areas were evacuated as a precaution due to the fires in İzmir, and continued his remarks as follows:

"In Seferihisar and Menderes, we continued to fight together throughout the day with 4 aircraft, 14 helicopters, 106 water tenders, hundreds of construction machines, and vehicles from other institutions. Since it is night, ground units have become more involved. 5 villages and 2 neighborhoods were evacuated as a precaution. There are no citizens among them experiencing health problems. Unfortunately, strong winds continue to challenge our efforts. The wind generally exceeded 100 kilometers per hour throughout the day. Because it is unstable, it unfortunately caused us to repeatedly break and reform the fronts we had established. This, unfortunately, prolongs the struggle. We were quite optimistic about achieving results in the Manisa Akhisar fire, but after our statement, a very serious wind occurred that truly surprised us as well, and it spread to a certain area."

Expressing that they were close to achieving results in the forest fire in Hatay's Antakya district, but that unstable and harsh winds prolonged the struggle, Yumaklı said, "I hope that if there is no different situation with weather conditions, we will achieve results by morning."

"WE ARE IN A SPIRIT OF WAR"

Emphasizing that the efforts have gone beyond the struggle against forest fires, Minister Yumaklı continued:

"We are in a spirit of war, so to speak. We are fighting an enemy that has the wind at its back, does not tire, does not rest, and is trying to neutralize the interventions made against it, so to speak. It opens new fronts for us every time. We will win this war; I trust my forest hero colleagues. I have no doubt that these friends of mine, some of whom have been fighting several fires almost every day throughout the week, and even last week, will win this struggle as well. As long as we, as a nation, are careful and do not cause new fires. Dividing our forces is the biggest problem for us right now. We continue to explain every time that very simple precautions can prevent these problems."

Reminding that President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan called him to receive information about the fight against the fire, Yumaklı thanked Erdoğan for his support.

Yumaklı was accompanied by İzmir Governor Süleyman Elban, İzmir Regional Director of Forestry Mahmut Yılmaz, and AK Party İzmir Provincial Secretary Cüneyd Dayhan.

News Source: 12punto