The fires don't go out until the forests are finished

News Center

The country is once again facing a heavy toll from forest fires. The deepening effects of the climate crisis, the years-long failure of the one-man regime to implement measures, and the permitting policies that opened forests to corporations laid the groundwork for this year's inevitable disaster. As every year, both the number and magnitude of fires increased this summer. The flames reduced vast areas to ashes, destroying vulnerable forests not only in the Mediterranean and Aegean regions but also in Central Anatolia and the Black Sea.

By opening forests to development and transforming nature into reinforced concrete buildings, the AKP government has exacerbated the disaster. Thousands of people suffered financial losses and were forced to evacuate their homes due to the flames that engulfed settlements within the forests.

Workers on the front lines of the firefighting effort were once again blindly sent to their deaths. Lacking adequate training, lacking up-to-date equipment, and outnumbered, dozens of forestry workers lost their lives battling the blaze. Three people were engulfed in flames in Izmir, 10 people fighting a fire in Eskişehir , and three people died in Bursa when a water tanker carrying water to the region overturned. Finally, it was learned that Adem Nazım Demirel, who was in a water truck that went into a ditch in Osmaniye , and Ali Tekerek also died in the hospital to which he was taken. At least 18 people have lost their lives in fires this year.

Megafires engulfed numerous cities, particularly Izmir, Bursa, and Çanakkale . Power lines, energy facilities, and mines, increasing their impact on forests, sparked the fire in many places. Power lines, which were not replaced or inspected after privatization, reduced many regions, especially Seferihisar, to ashes.

BUDGET REDUCED

Having handed over forests to capital and stood by as the flames blazed, the government, instead of combating the increasing fires every year, has slashed the budget of the General Directorate of Forestry (OGM). The GDF budget, which accounted for 4.5 percent of the total budget in 2019, fell to 3.3 percent in 2025. Meanwhile, the GDF staff has decreased by approximately 2,300 since 2022. An estimated 29,000 positions remain vacant within the institution. This has significantly reduced the number of workers and experts available for active firefighting.

WE ARE HELPFUL

The fire disaster unfolding before our eyes continued across the country yesterday. A forest fire, which broke out in three separate locations in the Silifke district of Mersin , continued for a second day. 190 people were evacuated from 90 households in the Kırtıl, İmamuşağı, Balandız, and Çamlıca neighborhoods due to the fire. Houses in the Kırtıl neighborhood, evacuated as a precaution and engulfed in flames, were captured. Nazif Türker, whose house and trees were burned, said, "We have nothing left; we are helpless."

The forest fire that broke out the day before yesterday in Hatay had not been extinguished as of last night. 540 residents of the Yukarıbucak and Bademli neighborhoods were evacuated from their homes.

In Çanakkale, the fires continue unabated. Citizens of Çaltıköy were the first to respond to a forest fire that broke out in the Ayvacık district yesterday.