Türkiye scorched by extreme heat as wildfire threat intensifies

ISTANBUL

A powerful heatwave sweeping in from Africa is pushing temperatures in Türkiye far beyond seasonal norms, triggering widespread warnings over dangerously high wildfire risk.

Authorities especially warn that the upcoming five to six days will be critical, with dangerously high temperatures and dry conditions creating a severe fire threat.

Major cities including Istanbul, Ankara and İzmir are expected to see temperatures soar to 36, 37 and 40 degrees Celsius, respectively.

Istanbul’s disaster coordination center, AKOM, warned that temperatures could approach 40 degrees in some neighborhoods in the coming days.

In some southeastern provinces, such as Diyarbakır and Şanlıurfa, the mercury may climb as high as 45 degrees.

The heat comes with a heightened risk of wildfires particularly in the country’s western and southern regions.

The General Directorate of Forestry urged the public not to light fires in open areas, discard cigarette butts or leave glass bottles in nature, all common causes of fires.

“Eighty-six percent of wildfires are caused by human activity. A single moment of negligence can trigger a fire on a catastrophic scale, and even lead to imprisonment,” the agency said in a public advisory.

In Istanbul, authorities are also bracing for high winds combined with low humidity, a combination that could rapidly spread fires if they break out.

The danger is far from hypothetical.

Last week, wildfires in the provinces Tekirdağ, Balıkesir, Çanakkale and Bursa forced the evacuation of hundreds and required massive firefighting efforts, with flames spreading rapidly due to strong winds.

In the past month alone, wildfires ravaged some 25,000 hectares of forestland in the western city of İzmir. Three people lost their lives, dozens of homes were destroyed and tens of thousands of red pine trees were reduced to ash.

Experts are now warning of secondary disasters in burned regions.

Without vegetation to stabilize the soil, areas hit by fire are now at increased risk of erosion, flooding and landslides during upcoming seasonal rainfall.