At least four people were killed in the fires.
Volunteers help to extinguish a forest fire in the Qoubaiyat area of northern Lebanon's
remote Akkar region on July 29, 2021. - JOSEPH EID/AFP via Getty Images
Al-Monitor Staff
TOPICS COVERED
Environment and nature
July 30, 2021
Forest fires continued to wreak havoc in Lebanon, Syria and Turkey on Thursday.
The wildfires in Lebanon took place in the north of the country, specifically in and around the town of Qoubaiyat in Akkar governorate near the Syrian border. The fires were still not under control as of 5 p.m. Thursday as firefighters worked to extinguish them, the official National News Agency reported.
The Arabic-language hashtag “Akkar is burning” trended on Twitter on Thursday. Some users posted videos of the blaze, which reached people’s homes in some areas. Other videos showed local residents using water to extinguish the flames themselves.
Al-Monitor Staff
TOPICS COVERED
Environment and nature
July 30, 2021
Forest fires continued to wreak havoc in Lebanon, Syria and Turkey on Thursday.
The wildfires in Lebanon took place in the north of the country, specifically in and around the town of Qoubaiyat in Akkar governorate near the Syrian border. The fires were still not under control as of 5 p.m. Thursday as firefighters worked to extinguish them, the official National News Agency reported.
The Arabic-language hashtag “Akkar is burning” trended on Twitter on Thursday. Some users posted videos of the blaze, which reached people’s homes in some areas. Other videos showed local residents using water to extinguish the flames themselves.
The fires began in Lebanon on Wednesday. At least one person — a 15-year-old boy — was killed in relation to the fires, according to the Lebanese news outlet Naharnet.
Lebanon’s fires also spread to neighboring Syria, specifically the Homs countryside in the southwest of the country, according to Syria’s official SANA news outlet.
There also were a number of forest fires in Turkey’s Mediterranean province of Antalya and other Turkish areas Thursday. Three people were killed; authorities said many buildings, vehicles and farms were destroyed and a number of people were evacuated.
Lebanon also experienced wildfires in October 2019, as did Iran in June of last year. The Associated Press reported that wildfires commonly occur during dry summer months in the Mediterranean and Aegean regions of Turkey.
Coincidentally, the grand imam of the Al-Azhar mosque in Egypt, Sheikh Ahmed el-Tayeb, warned this week about the effects of climate change in the region and mentioned rising temperatures.
The situation in Lebanon could be compounded by water issues. Last week, the United Nations warned that the public water supply system in the country is on the verge of collapse, and that 1.7 million Lebanese already only have access to 35 liters (nine gallons) a day.
Read more: https://www.al-monitor.com/originals/2021/07/forest-fires-rage-lebanon-syria-and-turkey#ixzz726dHRqT2
Lebanon’s fires also spread to neighboring Syria, specifically the Homs countryside in the southwest of the country, according to Syria’s official SANA news outlet.
There also were a number of forest fires in Turkey’s Mediterranean province of Antalya and other Turkish areas Thursday. Three people were killed; authorities said many buildings, vehicles and farms were destroyed and a number of people were evacuated.
Lebanon also experienced wildfires in October 2019, as did Iran in June of last year. The Associated Press reported that wildfires commonly occur during dry summer months in the Mediterranean and Aegean regions of Turkey.
Coincidentally, the grand imam of the Al-Azhar mosque in Egypt, Sheikh Ahmed el-Tayeb, warned this week about the effects of climate change in the region and mentioned rising temperatures.
The situation in Lebanon could be compounded by water issues. Last week, the United Nations warned that the public water supply system in the country is on the verge of collapse, and that 1.7 million Lebanese already only have access to 35 liters (nine gallons) a day.
Read more: https://www.al-monitor.com/originals/2021/07/forest-fires-rage-lebanon-syria-and-turkey#ixzz726dHRqT2
Deadly wildfires deal new blow to Turkish tourism
Issued on: 30/07/2021 -
Blazes that erupted Wednesday to the east of the tourist hotspot Antalya on Turkey's scenic southern coast have officially killed four people and injured nearly 200
Ilyas AKENGIN AFP/File
Manavgat (Turkey) (AFP)
Turkish firefighters made progress Friday containing deadly wildfires that forced the evacuation of entire villages and Mediterranean coast hotels already reeling from the shock of the coronavirus pandemic.
Blazes that erupted Wednesday to the east of the tourist hotspot Antalya on Turkey's scenic southern coast have officially killed four people and injured nearly 200.
But they have also threatened to scare off tourists who had only just started to return to Turkey in what President Recep Tayyip Erdogan had hoped would be a boon for the developing country's fragile economy.
The soaring flames turned summer skies dark orange over five-star hotels and villages dotting rolling hills that have been parched by another dry summer.
They had spread by Thursday evening to the Aegean Sea on Turkey's western coast and spanned a region stretching 300 kilometres (185 miles) and covering most of the country's top resorts.
Local resident Gulen Dede Tekin came with his family to a five-star hotel in the Mediterranean coast city of Manavgat on Thursday morning and at first thought nothing of the fires raging beyond the hills.
"In the evening, we realised how serious things were when they cut off the electricity and the ventilation at the hotel," Tekin told AFP.
"This morning, we woke up to a rain of ash."
- Arrests -
The government said 57 of the 71 fires had been contained or entirely put out by Friday morning.#photo1
"The situation is improving in all active fires," Agriculture Minister Bekir Pakdemirli told reporters during a visit to the affected region.
But he also confirmed that Turkey no longer had a firefighting plane in its inventory and was only in the process acquiring one under orders from Erdogan.
Russia has sent three giant aircraft and Turkey's historic rival Greece -- at odds with its neighbour on a wide range of regional disputes -- said it was "read to help".
The blow the fires threaten to deal to Turkey's tourism-dependent economy and the admission that the country had no firefighting planes has put Erdogan's government under pressure.
His office has officially blamed the fires on arson and unspecified "attacks".
Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu announced the arrest of five people on suspicions of starting one of the blazes in the southern city of Osmaniye.
"Who started these fires," he asked in televised comments. "We, as well as our citizens, have our suspicions."
The private DHA news agency said two children -- one eight and the other 10 years old -- admitted under questioning in the presence of their teacher that they accidentally started one of the fires by burning their books.
© 2021 AFP
Manavgat (Turkey) (AFP)
Turkish firefighters made progress Friday containing deadly wildfires that forced the evacuation of entire villages and Mediterranean coast hotels already reeling from the shock of the coronavirus pandemic.
Blazes that erupted Wednesday to the east of the tourist hotspot Antalya on Turkey's scenic southern coast have officially killed four people and injured nearly 200.
But they have also threatened to scare off tourists who had only just started to return to Turkey in what President Recep Tayyip Erdogan had hoped would be a boon for the developing country's fragile economy.
The soaring flames turned summer skies dark orange over five-star hotels and villages dotting rolling hills that have been parched by another dry summer.
They had spread by Thursday evening to the Aegean Sea on Turkey's western coast and spanned a region stretching 300 kilometres (185 miles) and covering most of the country's top resorts.
Local resident Gulen Dede Tekin came with his family to a five-star hotel in the Mediterranean coast city of Manavgat on Thursday morning and at first thought nothing of the fires raging beyond the hills.
"In the evening, we realised how serious things were when they cut off the electricity and the ventilation at the hotel," Tekin told AFP.
"This morning, we woke up to a rain of ash."
- Arrests -
The government said 57 of the 71 fires had been contained or entirely put out by Friday morning.#photo1
"The situation is improving in all active fires," Agriculture Minister Bekir Pakdemirli told reporters during a visit to the affected region.
But he also confirmed that Turkey no longer had a firefighting plane in its inventory and was only in the process acquiring one under orders from Erdogan.
Russia has sent three giant aircraft and Turkey's historic rival Greece -- at odds with its neighbour on a wide range of regional disputes -- said it was "read to help".
The blow the fires threaten to deal to Turkey's tourism-dependent economy and the admission that the country had no firefighting planes has put Erdogan's government under pressure.
His office has officially blamed the fires on arson and unspecified "attacks".
Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu announced the arrest of five people on suspicions of starting one of the blazes in the southern city of Osmaniye.
"Who started these fires," he asked in televised comments. "We, as well as our citizens, have our suspicions."
The private DHA news agency said two children -- one eight and the other 10 years old -- admitted under questioning in the presence of their teacher that they accidentally started one of the fires by burning their books.
© 2021 AFP
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