Turkey has been dealing since Wednesday with a traumatic disaster, with dozens of wildfires raging in various locations in the southern part of the state. At least 6 people have been pronounced dead.
The opposition has voiced stark criticism over the government’s incompetence, headed by President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, after it learned that it held no firefighting aircraft. Over the last several days, Turkey managed to lease a number of aircraft from Russia and Ukraine, as Azerbaijan has also sent assistance.
The opposition attacked the governments for not using planes of the Turkish Aeronautical Association, which helped in this type of crisis in the past.
Erdogan, who was asked about this issue, accused the Association of “inventing lies” and claimed that its aircraft are old and unfit for the mission. Erdogan’s scandal is enormous as forests cover about a third of Turkey’s landscape. In addition, there is a sharp ascent in the number of fires due to climate change.
Around 2,600 fires broke out in Turkey per year in the last decade, but that figure jumped to 3,400 last year. In the meantime, initial estimations say that more than 2,300 homes have already been damaged in the current wave of wildfires, sweeping the country.