Sawt Falasteen - Rescuers evacuate 50,000 as Turkey battles wildfires

The worst blaze began Sunday in Seferihisar, a forested area 50 kilometres (30 miles) southwest of the resort city of Izmir, spreading rapidly with winds of up to 120 kilometres (75 miles) per hour, officials said.

"A total of over 50,000 citizens from 41 settlements have been temporarily relocated to safe areas," AFAD wrote on X, saying 79 people had been affected by smoke and other fire-related issues, none seriously.

Of that number, 42,300 were evacuated from Seferihisar, where TV footage showed huge areas of flame raging through forested areas, sending vast clouds of black smoke into the sky.

Overnight, around 20 evacuated homes were gutted by the blaze, with only the walls left standing, footage on private TV network NTV showed.

Residents in the seaside village of Urkmez had on Sunday felled trees to create firebreaks and protect their homes as the flames advanced, a witness told AFP.

"Unfortunately, the wind is continuing to blow very strongly," Agriculture and Forestry Minister Ibrahim Yumakli told reporters on Monday afternoon.

The Turkish State Meteorological Service warned about strong winds over the weekend.

- Flights briefly suspended -

Yumakli said more than 1,000 people had been drafted in to tackle the blaze with four planes, 14 helicopters and 106 fire trucks.

AFAD said another 3,000 residents were evacuated from Manisa, 40 kilometres north of Izmir.

Another 1,500 people were forced out of their homes in the southern Hatay region, where four helicopters, 211 fire engines and 540 firefighters were fighting a blaze some 10 kilometres north of the city of Antakya, the governor said.

Around 850 others were forced to flee from two other wildfires in northwestern Turkey, AFAD said.

Meanwhile, Justice Minister Yilmaz Tunc said on X that one person had been arrested for allegedly starting one of the wildfires in the Izmir area with gasoline.

"The suspect is alleged to have set fire to their own residence, (which) subsequently caused a forest fire," he wrote, without giving further details.

Since Friday, 263 fires had broken out across Turkey, of which 259 were under control while efforts were ongoing to fight the remaining four, the agriculture and forestry ministry said.

Izmir airport, which temporarily suspended flights on Sunday, resumed operations, Turkish media reported.

Wildfires have ravaged nearly 19,000 hectares of land across Turkey so far this year, according to website of the European Forest Fire Information System (EFFIS).

Experts say human-driven climate change is causing more frequent and more intense wildfires and other natural disasters, and have warned Turkey to take measures to tackle the problem.

X.Habash--SF-PST