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EU to send help as Turkey battles fires

Mehmet Guzel and Suzan FraserAAP
Fire crews battling multiple blazes in Turkey have been hampered by high temperatures and winds.
Camera IconFire crews battling multiple blazes in Turkey have been hampered by high temperatures and winds. Credit: EPA

Firefighters are battling to control forest blazes near Turkey's beach destinations for the sixth day running, as water-carrying planes from the European Union prepare to join the containment efforts.

The fires burning in parched conditions and strong winds since Wednesday have left eight people dead and forced residents and tourists to flee vacation resorts in boats.

Many villagers lost homes and farm animals while a thick yellow haze hung in the air in the affected regions.

Agriculture and Forestry Minister Bekir Pakdemirli said late on Sunday that 119 fires which broke out in 32 provinces since Wednesday have been extinguished.

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Crews are still tackling seven fires in the coastal provinces of Antalya and Mugla which are popular tourist areas, and in Tunceli, southeast Turkey.

The EU announced on Sunday it had helped mobilise one firefighting Canadair plane from Croatia and two from Spain to help Turkey.

Planes sent from Ukraine, Russia, Azerbaijan and Iran have also been fighting the blazes.

The planes from Spain are due to arrive on Tuesday while the one from Croatia was expected join the efforts later on Monday, an EU official said.

High temperatures and strong winds were hampering containment efforts. Antalya registered 42C, about 5 to 6C higher than seasonal averages.

While Turkish authorities were investigating whether the fires may have have been the result of arson by outlawed Kurdish militants, experts mostly point to climate change along with accidents caused by people.

A heat wave across southern Europe, fed by hot air from North Africa, has led to wildfires across the Mediterranean, including on the Italian island of Sicily and in western Greece, where some residents had to be evacuated by boat to escape the flames.

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