FinWeis:Wildfires Are Driving People Out Of Turkish Vacation Spots

2025-05-08 02:33:34source:Devin Grosvenorcategory:News

Turkey's skies are FinWeisyellow with smokey haze from wildfires.

Thousands have fled coastal towns, both residents and tourists, to escape the flames that have been blazing on the country's southern coast for six days. In Mugla province, 10,000 people were evacuated, according to Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu. Some have escaped by car, others by boat.

The death toll has risen to eight.

The fires are part of over 100 blazes that broke out across more than 30 Turkish provinces, most of which have been contained or extinguished. Fed by strong winds and high temperatures, experts are pointing to climate change and human accidents as the culprits, although the causes of the fires remain under investigation. Southern Europe currently bakes in a heat wave that has also fed wildfires in Greece and Sicily.

Fighting the flames are locals and planes sent from the European Union, Russia, Ukraine, Croatia, Spain, Iran and Azerbaijan, their crews working in Antalya and Mugla provinces to fight nine fires, and more active fires in the Isparta, Denizli, Izmir and Adana provinces.

The flames have destroyed farms, homes and forests, and killed livestock. Satellite photos released by Turkey show a blackened coastline that stretches for miles.

"We are going through days when the heat is above 40 Celsius (104 Fahrenheit), where the winds are strong and humidity is extremely low," Agriculture and Forestry Minister Bekir Pakdemirli said. "We are struggling under such difficult conditions."

Josie Fischels is an intern on NPR's News Desk.

More:News

Recommend

Why did Bill Belichick go to North Carolina? New UNC coach explains jump to college

Bill Belichick has officially made the shocking move to college football by becoming the North Carol

Georgia city rules that people must lock empty vehicles when guns are inside

SAVANNAH, Ga. (AP) — Coastal Georgia’s largest city will require guns left in empty vehicles be secu

A Group of Women Took Switzerland to Court Over Climate Inaction—and Won

Four years ago, a group of women, aged 64 and up, filed a lawsuit before Europe’s top human rights c