Tag: Turkey

Villagers become unsung heroes of Turkey’s wildfires

by Kadir DEMIR IKIZCE, Turkey (AFP) — They grabbed their rakes, shovels and axes, donned high-vis helmets and went off into the mountains, helping exhausted firefighters battling Turkey’s deadly blazes pick their way through unfamiliar terrain. Residents of the rolling hills and pine forests hugging the Mediterranean and Aegean coasts have turned into the unsung heroes of Turkey’s battle against its deadliest and most destructive wildfires in generations. “You see that little fire over there? […]

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Greece, Turkey battle fierce fires as heatwave continues

by AFP bureaus ATHENS, Greece (AFP) — Hundreds of firefighters battled a blaze on the outskirts of Athens on Friday as dozens of fires raged in Greece in what the prime minister dubbed a “critical situation,” while neighboring Turkey came under increasing pressure over its handling of wildfires. Greece and Turkey have been fighting blaze upon blaze over the past week, hit by the worst heatwave in decades, a disaster that officials and experts have […]

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Hundreds evacuated by sea as wildfire reaches Turkish power plant

by Kadir DEMIR and Fulya OZERKAN in Istanbul MILAS, Turkey (AFP) — Turkish rescuers on Thursday began evacuating hundreds of villagers by sea after a deadly wildfire engulfed the outer edges of a thermal power plant storing thousands of tonnes of coal. An AFP team saw firefighters and police fleeing the 35-year-old Kemerkoy plant in the Aegean province of Mugla as bright balls of orange flame tore through the surrounding hills. Hundreds of local villages […]

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Deadly wildfire races toward Turkish power plant

by Kadir DEMIR MARMARIS, Turkey (AFP) — A roaring blaze raced toward a Turkish thermal power plant Tuesday and farmers herded panicked cattle toward the sea as wildfires that have killed eight people raged on for a seventh day. The nation of 84 million has been transfixed in horror as the most destructive wildfires in generations erase pristine forests and rich farmland across swaths of Turkey’s Mediterranean and Aegean coasts. Frightened tourists have been forced […]

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EU sends help to Turkey as wildfire death toll hits eight

by Kadir DEMIR MARMARIS, Turkey (AFP) — The European Union sent help to Turkey on Monday and volunteers joined firefighters in battling a week of violent blazes that have killed eight people and put pressure on President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Turkey’s struggles against its deadliest wildfires in decades come as a blistering heatwave grips southeastern Europe creating tinderbox conditions that Greek officials blame squarely on climate change. The fires tearing through Turkey since last Wednesday […]

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Fires rage across southern Europe, forcing hundreds to evacuate

by Raziye AKKOC with AFP bureaus ANKARA, Turkey (AFP) — Dozens of villages were evacuated in tourist hotspots in southern Turkey on Sunday as wildfires that have claimed eight lives raged for a fifth day, while blazes also hit Greece, Italy and Spain. Fanned by soaring temperatures and strong winds — with experts saying that climate change increases both the frequency and intensity of such blazes — this year’s fire season has been significantly more […]

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Turkey’s Erdogan launches work on controversial Black Sea canal

ISTANBUL, Turkey (AFP) — Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Saturday launched the start of construction on a controversial canal aimed at easing congestion on the Bosphorus but which critics say courts environmental disaster. The “Canal Istanbul” is a gigantic waterway running parallel to the Bosphorus Strait connecting the Black Sea to the Sea of Marmara and the Mediterranean. “Today we are opening a new page in the history of Turkish development,” Erdogan said during […]

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US risks ‘losing a friend’, Erdogan warns before meeting Biden

ISTANBUL, Turkey (AFP) — Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Tuesday warned that the United States risked “losing a precious friend” if it tries to corner his country, speaking two weeks before his first meeting with US counterpart Joe Biden. Already tense, relations between the two NATO states have further deteriorated since Biden replaced Erdogan’s ally Donald Trump in January, with the new president making a point of highlighting Turkey’s dire human rights record. When […]

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Turkey unveils deal for 50 million Sputnik V doses

ISTANBUL, Turkey (AFP) — Turkey announced on Wednesday it has signed a deal for the delivery of 50 million doses of Russia’s Sputnik V coronavirus vaccine. Health Minister Fahrettin Koca said the first deliveries will arrive in May as Turkey tries to speed up the innoculation effort. The nation of 84 million has delivered one shot to more than 13.5 million people and the full two doses to nearly nine million since launching its vaccination […]

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Turkey to enter full lockdown April 29 to May 17

ANKARA, Turkey (AFP) — Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Monday announced a full lockdown from April 29 to May 17 to fight a surging third wave of coronavirus infections. The nation of 84 million has seen daily Covid-19 death tolls rise to around 350 — higher than during two previous spikes last year. Turkey’s 37,312 new infections reported on Monday were the highest in Europe but still down from the peak of nearly 60,000 […]

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Sinkholes fill Turkey’s breadbasket in drought

by Raziye Akkoc KARAPINAR, Turkey (AFP) — Sinkholes wide enough to swallow a bus dot the drought-stricken breadbasket of the Turkish plains, worrying farmers as they spread and creep closer to residential homes. “The drought situation is getting worse,” said farmer Tahsin Gundogdu, whose harvest includes potatoes he sells to the US food giant PepsiCo. The 57-year-old has seen the huge holes yawn open in the past 10 to 15 years as the overuse of […]

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