Ukraine, Azerbaijan, Greece offer support in battling forest fires
TURKEY’S allies and the European Union expressed condolences over casualties caused by forest fires in southern Turkey and pledged support to ongoing efforts to extinguish them.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy late Thursday said a firefighting plane from his country will depart Friday to support Turkey, as the country tries to contain massive wildfires in several forest regions of its western and southern provinces. The country instead sent two firefighting planes Friday, along with a crew of veteran firefighters experienced in forest fires in mountainous areas. Zelenskyy, expressing sincere condolences to his “friend and President of Turkey, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan,” over the largescale fires, said in a Twitter statement that Ukraine will provide Turkey with all the necessary assistance. “The Ukrainian people will stand together with the friendly Turkish people at this difficult time,” Zelenskyy also said.
Separately, Greek Foreign Minister Nikos Dendias called his Turkish counterpart Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu, offering condolences and his country’s readiness in assisting Turkey in its fight against the forest fires, the Turkish Foreign Ministry said in a statement. “I expressed my sincere condolences over loss of lives caused by the wildfires, including in the Turkish FM’s home region of Antalya. I also expressed Greece’s readiness to provide assistance if requested,” Dendias said in a Twitter statement.
The Delegation of the European Union to Turkey Friday released a statement regarding the wildfires, expressing that it “commiserates with Turkey.”
“We are fighting this war with all our firefighter heroes and state institutions; selflessly, elaborately and with full force for our future. We have all the prayers from Turkey with us. We are hurt. We will put it out.” Minister of Agriculture and Forestry Bekir Pakdemirli, said on Twitter.
The EU delegation’s official Twitter account shared Pakdemirli’s tweet and wished Turkey “a speedy recovery.” The EU delegation expressed that it was deeply saddened by the wildfires that struck various locations across Turkey and offered its condolences to the family and friends of the deceased and wished those battling the flames luck. “We are deeply saddened by the forest fires that occurred in different parts of Turkey. We offer our condolences to those who lost their loved ones and wish strength to the teams which fight against the fires. The European Union share Turkey’s sorrow,” it said.
Azerbaijan’s president Friday extended his condolences to his Turkish counterpart for the losses of life. Addressing Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, İlham Aliyev voiced his deep sorrow over the ongoing blazes across Turkey and the consequences they will have. In a statement, he said he hoped that the Turkish nation would soon overcome the fires with the help of decisive steps by the government.
“The Azerbaijani government and nation stand in solidarity with the fellow Turkish nation, as always,” Aliyev said. Extending his condolences to the families of those who died in the fires, he wished for a quick recovery for the injured. Aliyev also gave instructions to dispatch support teams to Turkey in extinguishing the fires and getting them under control, his adviser Hikmat Hajiyev said in a written statement.