Wildfires tearing through three provinces in Turkey have sparked public outrage, with residents turning to social media to condemn what they describe as government inaction in getting the fires under control and a lack of media attention to the disaster.
Fires that broke out across İzmir, Manisa and Hatay over the past week continue to burn, with firefighters only partially succeeding in bringing them under control.
More than 50,000 people have been evacuated from numerous neighborhoods across the three provinces as a precaution. With strong winds at times hindering the use of airtankers in firefighting efforts, it is estimated that 133,500 hectares of land have so far been burned.
Barış Atay, an actor and former member of the Turkish parliament, criticized the authorities for their ineffective response to the wildfires, saying in a social media post that Hatay had been “abandoned” by the government.
“There have been fires in multiple places for days. People have lost their homes, and it’s still ongoing. People are trying to make their voices heard, but it never becomes the main issue in the country,” said social media user Önder Seren.
“Why isn’t any news channel covering this? Why the silence? Our homes, our forests, our very lungs are burning,” said another social media user from Izmir.
“It’s unacceptable that we’ve remained so helpless and unprepared in the face of wildfires for years. While our forests, animals, homes and farmland are consumed by flames, we are left devastated in helplessness,” said historian Sema Soykan.
A resident of Hatay said the city had barely begun to recover from the February 6, 2023 earthquakes before the wildfires started to ravage it. “We witnessed it being destroyed by the earthquakes, and now we are watching it burn,” he said.
Wildfires are a frequent and troubling occurrence during Turkey’s summer months as the weather has become hotter and drier. Each year the government faces criticism for its inadequate response and lack of preparedness. One of the worst cases was the summer of 2021 as 137 fires raged across 30 provinces. President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and his government faced accusations of mismanagement and unpreparedness after admitting the country has no serviceable firefighting planes.
