273 blazes contained, 2 ongoing in southwestern Turkey: Official

By Dilan Pamuk

ANKARA (AA) - As many as 272 forest fires in Turkey have been contained, while three continue to burn in the Aegean Mugla province, the country's agriculture and forestry minister said in a news conference on Tuesday.

Speaking prior to a firefighting coordination meeting in the town of Marmaris, Bekir Pakdemirli said Turkey has been combatting massive blazes for 14 days.

A total of 275 fires erupted in 53 provinces across the country due to hot, windy, and dry weather conditions, he said.

Pakdemirli added that efforts to extinguish the fires in Mugla continued on land, along with aerial operations.

He said in a later Twitter post that the blaze in Milas district in Mugla had been contained after burning for 11 days. Cooling efforts here continue, he added.

- Fires in Greece

Noting previously announced plans to dispatch two 40-ton planes to Greece upon its request for extra firefighting aircraft, the minister said: "When we have surplus capacity, we shouldn't avoid sending them to our neighbors."

"The forests are not only our own, but belong to the entire world," he continued. "The flora and the wildlife here belong to the whole world."

On the ongoing blazes in Greece, Pakdemirli said: "The size of the fires have reached very critical dimensions, considering the size of the country and its forestlands."

He added that the flames pose a "serious" threat to residential areas.

Greece has been fighting wildfires for eight days with thousands of people have been evacuated so far.