Minister of Agriculture and Forestry Yumaklı: ‘300 hectares of land are affected’

Minister of Agriculture and Forestry, İbrahim Yumaklı, regarding the ongoing forest fire in Çanakkale stated, ‘According to our initial assessments, we will provide information on the final situation, but we estimate that an area of 300 hectares is affected.’ The fire, which started in agricultural land near Kumköyü village in the Eceabat district of Çanakkale at 16:05 and spread to the forested area due to the effect of the wind, continues. The fire is being intervened by 9 helicopters, 6 planes from the air, and with the night vision helicopter, 94 fire trucks, and machinery, as well as 540 personnel on the ground. Minister of Agriculture and Forestry, İbrahim Yumaklı, who arrived in Çanakkale, after conducting an aerial inspection in the region with a helicopter, received information about the fire at the Forest General Directorate’s Fire Management Vehicle located at the Çanakkale Battles Epic Introduction Center and made a statement about the current situation of the fire. In the statement, AK Party Çanakkale Deputy Ayhan Gider, CHP Çanakkale Deputies İsmet Güneşhan, Özgür Ceylan, Çanakkale Forest Regional Director Enver Demirci, Çanakkale Battles Gallipoli Historical Area President İsmail Kaşdemir, Mayor of Gelibolu Dr. Ali Kamil Soyuak were also present. Minister of Agriculture and Forestry İbrahim Yumaklı, mentioned that there are 42 forest fires today, ’22 of these forest fires occurred within the forest and 20 outside the forest. 5 of the fires occurred in the fire type we define as the highest risk group. Burdur, Çanakkale, Sakarya, Manisa, and Uşak. Currently, there is an ongoing fire in the Eceabat district of Çanakkale where we are located. We also have a fire ongoing in Uşak. The others have all been brought under control. The fire in Eceabat was first detected at 16:05. The intervention began at 16:11. We started with 9 planes and 6 helicopters. Currently, these aircraft had to land due to sunset. We will continue the fight with a night vision helicopter and other aircraft. Currently, we continue to fight the fire with 94 fire trucks, machinery, and 540 personnel. Together with the cooperation of the institutions. We had requested the precautionary evacuation of the village of Büyük Anafartarlar. Other than that, there is no threat to any settlement. There are no health issues or loss of life or property from this village. Entry to the Gelibolu Historical Area was stopped. Currently, there is a wind speed of 28 kilometers per hour. Humidity is 68%, temperature is 23 degrees, so the conditions are fortunately in our favor. According to our initial assessments, we will provide information on the final situation, but we estimate that an area of 300 hectares is affected. I would like to provide information about the fire in Uşak. It started at 18:30. The first intervention started 8 minutes later. There are 1 helicopter, 33 ground vehicles, and 161 personnel continuing the fight here. We frequently emphasize this. Your ability and your country’s capacity are of course very important in fighting fires, and thankfully we do not have any problems in this regard. However, we prioritize preventing fires from occurring and we always emphasize that success lies in this. Unfortunately, especially in these days where we are experiencing the significant effects of climate change, especially in the Mediterranean Basin, we need to be much more careful as we think that our country will be much more affected. I want to emphasize one more thing. We observe that a large majority of fires that occur outside the forest are actually caused due to negligence. Whether knowingly or unknowingly, directly or indirectly, causing a forest fire has very severe penalties, and I want to remind all our citizens of this fact. While we receive the support of the majority of our citizens, we cannot accept that very large areas, an ecosystem, agricultural or forest lands, or the living creatures in the area are harmed due to the irresponsibility of one or a few individuals. Currently, all our institutions, regional deputies, are together in this fight. Hopefully, we will continue to provide information based on our colleagues’ efforts within a certain period of time. There is no situation that will cause us great concern. However, as I mentioned, the change in weather conditions or other factors may lead us in another direction, maybe I can’t predict that. We will regularly provide information on this as well. I wish Çanakkale, Eceabat a swift recovery. The slightest damage to this historic peninsula, which is extremely important in our country’s independence struggle, causes a great wound in our hearts unfortunately. Therefore, I say get well soon again. I hope that we will be able to provide good news without too many long hours.’