ISTANBUL: Wildfires in the Turkish holiday beach destinations of Antalya and Mugla raged on Sunday as firefighters worked to battle the blazes for a fifth day. As some residents boarded boats to flee the danger, coast guard ships waited in the sea in case a bigger evacuation was needed.
Police water cannons, usually used to control riots, assisted helicopters and fire trucks in a village of Mugla’s popular district of Bodrum to fight fires. Turkish television showed fires had reignited after being extinguished earlier, with blazes and smoke approaching a village.
Civilians were trying to help, hoping to protect homes and olive groves, but some houses were already damaged. Coast guard and private boats were helping some residents evacuate by sea.
Fires in Marmaris, another tourist destination in Mugla, continued Sunday as strong winds made firefighting efforts more difficult. Residents of villages around Marmaris pleaded for more help on social media. Tourists and some residents were boarding boats with their suitcases as others waited anxiously to see if the fire would come down to the shore. Fires were also encroaching on a village near the town of Manavgat, where helicopters were trying to extinguish blazes. The minister of forestry and agriculture, Bekir Pakdemirli, tweeted that 107 wildfires were “under control” across Turkey. His list showed that, since Wednesday, wildfires had ignited in 32 provinces. The wildfire death toll rose to eight on Sunday.
Panic-stricken tourists were evacuated Saturday from some hotels in Bodrum as a fire rolled down the hill toward the seashore. Russian media reported that 100 Russian tourists were among those evacuated. While Turkish authorities say they are investigating whether the fires may have started as “sabotage” by outlawed Kurdish militants, experts mostly point to the climate crisis, as seen by the drastic increases in temperatures along with accidents caused by people.
Turkey’s president said Saturday that one of the fires was started by children. President Recep Tayyip Erdogan toured some of the affected areas on Saturday and promised to help residents rebuild their homes. But social media users criticized him for arriving in Marmaris in a massive convoy that affected traffic and throwing bags of tea from the top of his bus to people gathered to hear him speak.
A heatwave across southern Europe, fed by hot air from North Africa, has led to wildfires across the Mediterranean, including on the Italian island of Sicily and in western Greece, where some residents had to be evacuated by boat to escape the flames.
Temperatures in Turkey and nearby countries in southeast Europe are expected to climb to 42 degrees Celsius on Monday in many cities and towns. Antalya was already registering 41 degrees Celsius on Sunday.
Meanwhile, in Turkey’s eastern Van province, floods destroyed at least six houses after a small river overflowed amid heavy rains. Floods in northern Turkey last month killed at least six people.
Fire crews battle Turkish wildfires at holiday destinations
https://arab.news/5hnhd
Fire crews battle Turkish wildfires at holiday destinations
- Panic-stricken tourists were evacuated Saturday from some hotels in Bodrum as a fire rolled down the hill toward the seashore
Iraqi cabinet approves $4.6 billion Basrah-Haditha oil pipeline project
- Iraq’s current oil output stands at about 4 million barrels per day, oil ministry officials say
CAIRO: The Iraqi cabinet has given approval for a Basrah-Haditha oil pipeline project, a statement from the Prime Minister’s office said on Monday.
The pipeline will cost about 5.97 trillion Iraqi dinars ($4.56 billion), the statement said.
Iraq’s oil ministry said in August that the proposed pipeline would transport crude oil to the country’s central and southern regions.
Iraq’s current oil output stands at about 4 million barrels per day, oil ministry officials say. ($1 = 1,309.0000 Iraqi dinars)
Israel army says intercepted missile launched from Yemen
- Israel’s emergency service providers, Magen David Adom, reported that it had received no reports of any casualties so far
JERUSALEM: The Israeli military on Monday said that it had intercepted a missile launched from Yemen before it crossed into Israeli territory.
“Following the sirens that sounded a short while ago in central Israel, a missile launched from Yemen was intercepted by the IAF (air force) prior to crossing into Israeli territory,” the military said in a statement.
Israel’s emergency service providers, Magen David Adom, reported that it had received no reports of any casualties so far.
Ceasefire between Turkiye and US-backed SDF in northern Syria holding, Pentagon says
- Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) militants that it outlaws and who have fought the Turkish state for 40 years
WASHINGTON: The Pentagon said on Monday a ceasefire between Turkiye and the US-backed Kurdish Syrian forces around the northern Syrian city of Manbij was holding.
Washington brokered an initial ceasefire earlier this month after fighting that broke out as rebel groups advanced on Damascus and overthrew the rule of Bashar Assad. But on Dec. 19, a Turkish defense ministry official said there was no talk of a ceasefire deal between Ankara and the SDF.
“The ceasefire is holding in that northern part of Syria,” Pentagon spokesperson Sabrina Singh told reporters.
The SDF is the main ally in a US coalition against Daesh militants in Syria. It is spearheaded by the YPG militia, a group that Ankara sees as an extension of Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) militants that it outlaws and who have fought the Turkish state for 40 years.
Turkiye regards the PKK, YPG and SDF as terrorist groups.
The US and Turkiye’s Western allies list the PKK as terrorist, but not the YPG and the SDF.
The United States has about 2,000 US troops in Syria that have been working with the SDF to fight Daesh militants and prevent a resurgence of the group, which in 2014 seized large swathes of Iraq and Syria but was later pushed back.
Moroccan activists tried over earthquake response criticism: lawyer
- The earthquake razed tens of thousands of homes in central Morocco, including in the High Atlas mountain range, forcing families to sleep out in the open through the winter
RABAT: Four activists advocating for victims of the 2023 earthquake in Morocco appeared in court on Monday to face charges including defamation, their lawyer told AFP.
Said Ait Mahdi, the head of Al Haouz Earthquake Victims Coordination, was brought before a Marrakech court “on allegations of defamation, insult and spreading false claims intended to harm individuals privacy,” said his lawyer Mohamed Nouini.
While Ait Mahdi has been in custody for a week, the other three defendants others, who face charges of “insulting public officials,” remain free said Nouini.
The lawyer said charges came after local officials filed complaints against the activists over social media posts they deemed offensive.
Ait Mahdi’s defense filed a request for his release pending trial on January 6, said Nouini.
Al Haouz province, south of Marrakech, was the worst affected area when a 6.8-magnitude earthquake hit in September 2023, killing nearly 3,000 people and injuring thousands more.
The earthquake razed tens of thousands of homes in central Morocco, including in the High Atlas mountain range, forcing families to sleep out in the open through the winter.
Ait Mahdi’s group has called for the acceleration of reconstruction efforts and greater support for the families affected by the earthquake.
As of early December, Moroccan authorities had issued some 57,000 reconstruction permits.
Over 35,000 houses have been completed or were underway, the government said in a statement on December 2.
Following the earthquake, the Moroccan authorities announced a five-year reconstruction plan with an estimated budget of $11.7 billion.
About $740 million of the funding was allocated to help affected families rebuild their homes, with the money to be distributed in instalments.
French ministers in Lebanon for talks month into Israel-Hezbollah truce
- Aoun has been tasked with deploying troops in the south of the country since the Israel-Hezbollah ceasefire came into effect
BEIRUT: France’s top diplomat and defense chief arrived on Monday in Lebanon, where a fragile truce since late November ended intense fighting between Israel and militant group Hezbollah.
Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot and Defense Minister Sebastien Lecornu met with Lebanon’s army chief Joseph Aoun, and on Tuesday are due to visit UN peacekeepers near the Israeli border.
A Lebanese army statement on social media said that Aoun and the visiting ministers discussed “ways to strengthen cooperation relations between the armies of the two countries and to continue support for the army in light of current circumstances.”
Aoun, who is being touted as a possible candidate for Lebanon’s president, has been tasked with deploying troops in the south of the country since the Israel-Hezbollah ceasefire came into effect on November 27.
Lecornu said on X that he is also due to meet with a French general representing Paris “within the ceasefire monitoring mechanism.”
“Our armies are, and will remain, committed to the stability of Lebanon and the region,” he said.
The monitoring body brings together Lebanon, Israel, the United States, France and the United Nations’ UNIFIL peacekeeping mission. It is meant to support the implementation of the ceasefire and assess violations.
On Thursday, UNIFIL said it was “concerned” by “the continued destruction” carried out by the Israeli army in southern Lebanon, despite the truce.
Lecornu and Barrot are scheduled to meet on Tuesday with French soldiers deployed with UNIFIL in south Lebanon.
