Thousands forced to evacuate as wildfires rage in western Turkey

Nearly 4,000 residents in the region have been moved to safety and six arrested for alleged sabotage, authorities said.

Wildfires have engulfed swaths of western Turkey triggering the evacuation of nearly 4,000 residents, the disaster management agency said.

Helicopters and water bombers, which were grounded due to strong winds, were brought in to battle the blaze on Saturday in the resort city of Izmir on Turkey’s Aegean coast, broadcaster NTV reported.

Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya said 900 residents in five affected districts were evacuated overnight in Izmir, the country’s third-most populous city.

The Disaster and Emergency Management Authority (AFAD) said on Saturday that 1,430 people in Izmir were taken to safety, 1,475 in Manisa, 516 in Bolu and 550 in Aydin, after a total of 131 wildfires broke out on agricultural and forested land in these cities over the past week.

Agriculture and Forestry Minister Ibrahim Yumakli told reporters that, overnight, 17 residential homes were burned, and 105 houses and 44 workplaces were evacuated in Izmir’s Yamanlar neighbourhood.

“Currently, two planes and 11 helicopters are continuing to intervene,” Yumakli said, according to the AFP news agency.

About 1,600 hectares (3,950 acres) have been affected, the minister added.

Six people have been detained over suspected sabotage relating to the wildfires, two of them in Izmir and four in the northwestern city of Bolu, according to Yumakli.

Wildfires are common in Turkey’s Mediterranean and Aegean regions during the arid summer months.

Elsewhere in the Mediterranean, heatwaves this year have also caused wildfires. At least one person died after Greece’s worst wildfires this year broke out on the outskirts of the capital, Athens, in recent days.

Experts say climate change is driving extreme weather events around the world, including wildfires and floods.