6 countries help with firefighting aircraft to control the fires in Turkey.
The Deputy Minister of Forestry of the Turkish Forest Organization said: “Six countries participated in firefighting operations in the forests of Turkey by firefighting aircraft.”
While the southern regions of Turkey have been burning since July 28, six countries, Iran, Azerbaijan, Russia, Croatia, Spain and Ukraine, participated in the firefighting operation with their firefighting aircraft, respectively.
“In addition to the 45 helicopters and three firefighting planes that Turkey has, several other countries have sent and will send firefighting planes,” Mustafa Ozkaya, deputy director of forest affairs at the Turkish Forest Service, told Anatolia.
Ozkaya said that 12 foreign firefighting planes and 6 helicopters are currently in Turkey, adding that 10 of these planes and all helicopters have been provided to the Turkish authorities free of charge.
He stated: “Despite the fact that Turkish government officials did not call for help, Iran supported our country’s firefighting operations with one plane and two helicopters.” Azerbaijan is also arriving in the fire zone with a helicopter and a team of 53 vehicles. Ukraine also took part in the firefighting operation with 3 planes and Russia with 5 planes and 3 helicopters.
Ozkaya also spoke about the “EU Civil Protection Mechanism”, which is based on the payment of membership dues to EU member states.
Emphasizing that the Turkish Disaster Management Center “Afad” is also a member of this mechanism, he clarified: “We pay a certain amount annually.” Money is raised in a pool and support is provided to countries in need.
“This is not a help, but we will use our share when needed,” Ozkaya said. In this regard, we received offers to send 5 aircraft from 4 countries.
The Deputy Minister of Forestry of the Turkish Forest Organization also stated: “Currently, one firefighting plane has entered our country from Croatia and three from Spain.”
