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"Focus on climate change": Greece and Turkey fail to stop the huge fires
In Greece it is difficult to contain the fire approaching Athens, and monks were forcibly evacuated in May near the capital.
"The situation is extremely critical," the prime minister said, after the first person perished in the fires. In Turkey, the opposition attacked the Erdogan administration after it was revealed that only a small part of the forest conservation budget was used. "A kind of betrayal."
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Friday, 06 August 2021, 22:00
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A man stands near a fire near Olympia, Greece.
August 5, 2021 (Photo: Reuters)
Hundreds of firefighters are battling a major fire on the outskirts of Athens today (Friday), in parallel with dozens of other fires raging in Greece.
This is while in neighboring Turkey, the government is under increasing pressure due to its failed handling of the disaster.
Greece and Turkey have been battling major forest fires for the past week, following the worst heat wave to hit them in the last twenty.
Officials and experts said these natural disasters are related to extreme weather events that are becoming more frequent due to climate change.
According to news agency AFP, the draft United Nations report warns that the Mediterranean region, which he called "a focal point of climate change", will be hurt more intense heat waves, droughts and fires increased as a result of the temperature rise.
The Health Ministry reported that the Greek 38-year-old man, who lived In the town north of Athens, which was hit by the huge flames, he died at the hospital after being hit by an electric pole while riding a scooter, the first victim as a result of the fires in Greece.
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In the video: A wave of fires in Greece (Photo: Reuters)
During the night, firefighters from France arrived in Greece to assist local fire crews, with Israel, Switzerland, Sweden and Romania also scheduled to send additional backups.
"Our country is in a very critical situation," Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis, who put six of the country's 13 provinces on high alert, said last night. "We are facing unprecedented conditions after a few days of heat wave turned the country into a barrel of fire dust."
About 30 kilometers north of Athens, a fierce fire devastated vast areas of pine forests, evacuated more villages during the night and filled the Greek capital with thick, suffocating smoke. Due to the fires, part of a highway connecting Athens to the north of the country was closed as a precaution.
Deputy Secretary of Civil Defense Nikos Hardlias said that out of 99 fires that broke out on Thursday, 57 were still active during the night, mostly on the island of Avia, where monks who refused to leave their monasteries were forcibly evacuated.
About 80 firefighters from France - military and civilian - arrived in Greece last night, according to a French source.
A spokesman for Greece's fire authorities said France was also scheduled to send two firefighting planes, as well as Sweden, and Romania would send 112 firefighters and 23 firefighters, while Switzerland would assist with three helicopters.
Israel also said it plans to send a plane with 15 firefighters and a large amount of flame retardants.
Firefighters are battling a fire north of Athens.
August 6, 2021 (Photo: Reuters)
Due to the extreme heat, Greek authorities have issued a sweeping ban on any visit to forests, national parks or nature sites until at least Monday. "If there are still people who doubt climate change, let them come and see the intensity of the phenomenon here," the Greek prime minister said as he surveyed the ancient ruins site in Olympia, the homeland of the Olympic Games, also threatened by the flames.
The fires also forced the northern Macedonian government to declare a 30-day state of emergency and the Ministry of Defense in neighboring Albania said the situation was "critical" due to the threat to village houses.
In Turkey, 208 fires have broken out since July 28, and 12 of them are still burning today, according to the Turkish Presidency.
Eight people perished in the fires and dozens more were hospitalized in hospitals in the southern coastal areas of the country.
Earlier this week, the fire approached alarmingly at a power plant off the coast of the Aegean Sea, where thousands of tons of coal are stored.
The government said after taking control of the fire that an initial inspection revealed that no significant damage had been done to the main units in the plant.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's government is facing increasing pressure after the opposition voted for a report that showed only a small portion of the budget was used to prevent forest fires.
Flames and smoke in the Marmaris area, Turkey.
August 4, 2021 (Photo: Reuters)
Murat Amir, a member of the secular opposition party, said the Forest Administration had used only 1.75% of the nearly 200 million Turkish pounds ($ 23 million) allocated to the fight against forest fires in the first six months of the year.
He referred to the numbers mentioned in the report of the administration itself, which he submitted in a query in parliament.
"This situation can even be described as treason," he told AFP.
Erdogan has come under sharp criticism for responding slowly or refusing to respond to some offers of foreign aid after revealing that Turkey has no functioning firefighting planes.
The government, for its part, has blamed the Turkish Aviation Association, which Erdogan claims has failed to upgrade its fleet and technology.
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