2021 Turkey wildfires

Total burned forested area and number of recorded wildfires in Turkey between 1990 and 2017[11]

Since the 1940's the number of fires per year had increased from around 1000 to around 3500.[12] In 2007, the IPCC Fourth Assessment Report said that "Warmer, drier conditions will lead to more frequent and prolonged droughts, as well as to a longer fire season and increased fire risk, particularly in the Mediterranean region."[13][14] The fires were some of several extreme weather events around the world in 2021.[9]

Wildfires in the forests of Turkey are common in summer, principally in the Mediterranean and Aegean Regions,[15] however, May 2021 was the hottest May for over 50 years[16] and followed a drought, made more likely by climate change.[9][10] This was followed by near to above average June temperatures with positive temperature anomalies below 1 °C (1.8 °F) and ample rainfall, however, this did not impede the fires in Kaş, Tarsus and Marmaris on 26 and 27 June.[16][17] Much stronger heat followed in the second half of July, as some regions reached positive temperature anomalies of up to 12 °C (22 °F), and a temperature reading of 36 °C (97 °F) was recorded as far north as Istanbul, where seasonal daytime temperatures would have been around 27 °C (81 °F).[18][19][20]

Map of the fires

Copernicus satellites measured the maximum daily heat intensity at about 20 gigawatts, four times the previous record in Turkey, and EFFIS estimates placed the total area burnt at almost ten times the average for early August.[9][21] Nine people died in the wildfires, at least two of them firefighters.[2][22] Three deadly casualties were reported from the fire in Manavgat.[23] 18 villages in Antalya and 16 villages in Adana and Mersin were evacuated.[24] Most injuries were due to smoke inhalation.[15] More than 4,000 tourists and staff in 2 hotels in Bodrum were evacuated by sea,[25][9] by the Turkish Coastguard helped by private boats.[26] Minister of Environment and Urban Planning Murat Kurum said that over 100 art museums would have to be demolished.[27] The president declared parts of 5 southern provinces disaster zones.[28] By 2 August 2021, it was estimated that about 160'000 acres of forests have fallen victim to the fires.[29]

During the first few days of August new fires broke out in the west, and the Kemerköy power plant in Muğla Province was evacuated on 4 August as a fire entered the plant.[30][31] The same day some other people near Milas were evacuated by sea.[32] Nearby Yeniköy power plant was also threatened by a fire.[33] Rare summer rain in Antalya on 7 August helped bring the fires there under control, but those in Muğla remained serious, with 13 fires continuing in 5 provinces.[34]

On 14 August, a Russian Navy Beriev Be-200 fire-fighting plane, one of two hired since July to help those affected by the fires in Kahramanmaraş, crashed just before it was due to land. There were five Russian servicemen and three Turkish citizens on board, all of whom perished in the accident.[35][36]

Most of the burnt forest was Turkish pine (Pinus brutia - in Turkish "Kızılçam" literally "red pine" – so sometimes mistranslated), which can generally regrow naturally.[12]

The following countries responded:

•  Azerbaijan – 750 firefighters, 93 trucks,[46] helicopter and plane[47]
•  Kuwait – 45 firefighters and 6 trucks[48]
•  Croatia – airplanes[49]
•  France – airplanes[50]
•  Greece – offer refused by Turkey[51][52]
•  Israel – airplanes[53]
•  Iran – airplanes[49]
•  Kazakhstan – In August 2021, the Astana Times reported that helicopters from Kazakhstan helped extinguish forest fires in southwest Turkey.[54]
•  Spain – airplanes[49]
•  Romania – airplanes[50]
•  Russia – airplanes[49]
•  Belarus – airplanes[55]
•  Poland – S-70i helicopter[56]
•  Ukraine – airplanes[49]
•  USA – 2 water dropping CH-47 Chinook helicopters[57]

International Organizations:

•  European Union – 3 Canadairs from the rescEU fleet[58]

As of August 2021, figures for 2020 fire starting have not yet been published by the General Directorate of Forestry, but in 2019 no fires were known to have been caused by terrorism, and in 2018, out of the 2167 total fires 6 are known to have been started by terrorists according to official statistics.[14] However, what started almost half of the 2688 fires in 2019 was unknown: the most common known fire starters were lightning (372) and intentional stubble burning (184).[9]

Boğaziçi University climatologist Levent Kurnaz said that the extremely hot and dry weather helped to start the fires.[9] Some meteorologists also mention the foehn effect.[63] Hikmet Özturk, forestry expert working with the Turkish Foundation for Combating Soil Erosion, said that although wildfires are almost always started by people, effects of climate change on wildfires are making their spread worse.[28]

The state-run TRT World, among others, wrote quickly about the possibility of the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK, which is listed as a terrorist organization by Turkey and many other countries) being behind the fires. One article by TRT called the PKK the "prime suspect" because "environmental destruction is one of the methods of vengeance used by the group."[64] This was denied by the PKK, as well as the Kurdistan Communities Union (KCK).[65] According to some reports, there were racist attacks on Kurds after it was reported that the PKK was behind the fires.[66] Interior Minister Süleyman Soylu stated that they had "no security intelligence" yet to support the claim that wildfires were being caused by arson attacks.[67] As of August 2021 official investigation concerning the causes of the fires continues,[68] including possible arson or negligence.[69]

• 
  Wildfires in Milas
• 
  Smoke in Milas
• Wildfires in İçmeler, Bodrum.
• 
  Firefighters in Milas
• 
  Wildfires in Urla, İzmir
• 
  Kumbahçe, Bodrum 31 July 2021

• 2009 Mediterranean wildfires
• 2021 Greece wildfires
• 2021 Turkey floods

• Global Wildfire Information System (GWIS): Turkey