Over the past few years, Turkey has experienced a devastating crisis of raging wildfires across the country Dry conditions, hot temperatures, and strong winds have combined to spark massive blazes that have destroyed land, threatened homes and infrastructure, and even claimed lives As wildfires ignite and spread rapidly again this summer, many are wondering – is Turkey on fire today? Let’s take a closer look at the current situation.
A Recurring Crisis
Turkey has faced wildfires annually over the past decade, but the crisis notably worsened starting in 2021 That year, over 200 separate wildfires erupted from June through September, burning down over 270,000 acres of land 2022 also saw intense wildfire activity, with over 120 fires burning 150,000 acres from May to September.
Already this summer, numerous wildfires have broken out across Turkey, signaling that 2023 could be another severe season. Just last week in late July, major blazes required the evacuation of neighborhoods on the outskirts of Izmir along the Aegean Coast. Fanned by hot, dry winds, the fires spread quickly, threatening homes and hotels.
Threatening Cities, Villages, and Nature
Turkey’s wildfires often ignite in forested areas along the Mediterranean and Aegean coasts before growing out of control and reaching populated areas. In 2021, entire villages were evacuated in Antalya and Mugla Provinces as fires encroached. Even heavily populated cities like Izmir and Istanbul have battled nearby blazes threatening city limits.
Beyond endangering human settlements, the fires take a massive toll on Turkey’s natural landscapes. They have burned through forests, parks, nature reserves, and agricultural areas across the country. Fires have even damaged portions of famous protected areas like Gallipoli National Park.
Impacts on People and Livelihoods
The wildfires have had devastating impacts on local populations. Over the past 3 years, at least 40 citizens have lost their lives in the blazes. Hundreds more have suffered injuries or lost their homes and property. The fires have also severely damaged agricultural fields and crops, harming the livelihood of many farmers.
Tourism sectors in beach destinations like Antalya have taken huge economic hits when fires have prompted evacuations and canceled vacations. Areas known for exports like olive oil have lost entire orchards and faced multi-year setbacks.
Why So Many Fires?
Experts cite several factors that have made Turkey so prone to more frequent, intense wildfires recently:
- Hotter, Drier Conditions: Climate change impacts are creating hotter, drier summers ideal for fires.
- Increasing Urbanization: More people living near forested areas means more chances for human-caused fires.
- Lightning: Dry thunderstorms with little rain but abundant lightning also ignite fires.
- Arson: Some fires have been deliberately set, though arson is not the primary cause.
- Strong Winds: Wind spreads fires rapidly once ignited, making containment difficult.
Is Turkey on Fire Today?
Based on the recurrence of major wildfires over several years now, Turkey remains at high risk for further fires this summer. Dry conditions persist, and any strong winds could still spread existing fires or spark new ones. Smaller brush fires igniting daily suggest the landscape is primed for bigger blazes.
However, as of late July 2022, there are no major wildfires currently burning out of control across the country. The early season fires near Izmir were contained. So while Turkey’s wildfire threat remains elevated, there are presently no major crises underway. But the danger exists for more fires to come as the summer continues.
Ongoing prevention and preparedness will be crucial to protect Turkey’s people, wildlife, and natural beauty going forward. With proactive measures and rapid responses, hopefully the country can mitigate and contain future wildfires when they emerge.
By Coşkun Okan Güney, Kevin C Ryan, Aylin Güney, and Sharon M. Hood
Millennia of extensive grazing, agriculture, and timber harvesting have altered Turkey’s native vegetation and modified fire regimes. The degree to which this is so is a topic for debate among policy-makers, managers, and scientists – with implications for understanding the potential impacts of land use and climate change on future forest management.
While rapid urbanization, modern agribusiness, intensive forest management, and fire suppression continue to dominate the Turkish landscape, the dynamics of land use and climate change raise questions about the sustainability of future landscapes. How should and how will policy and management evolve to deal with expected increases in wildfires and insect and disease problems? How will these disturbances affect the land’s ability to provide adequate supplies of food, productive soil, clean air, and water as well as increasing demand for outdoor recreation? And what is the role of research and development in informing policy and management changes?
These are the questions – particularly the role of research – that engaged our team’s exchange between scientists from Turkey and the United States, held in Turkey in the fall of 2018. And this is the history and the issues we explored.
The crossroads of nature, culture, and agriculture
Turkey is an ancient crossroads. Surrounded on three sides by water, it forms the bridge between Asia and southern Europe. It is where East meets West and people, their cultures and vegetation merge and mingle. It is a country of great beauty steeped in human history. For a sense of scale, Turkey is nearly the size of California, Oregon and Idaho combined (303,000 square miles vs. 345,000 square miles), with nearly twice the population (80 million vs. 45 million. Located between 36- and 42-degrees north latitude, defined by 4,474 miles (7,200 km) of coastlines, dominated by rugged mountains and the Anatolian Plateau, Turkey has diverse climates and vegetation morphologically quite similar to those found in the three states. Unlike those states, whose mountains tend north and south, Turkey’s mountain ranges tend east and west with increasingly high mountains to the east. It is literally the land bridge formed by tectonic forces. Eighty percent of the land is considered rugged. The average and median elevations are 4,400 feet (1,332 m) and 3700 feet (1,128 m), respectively. In the Asiatic portion flat land is largely limited to the river deltas.
Western Turkey is bordered by the Aegean Sea and the Sea of Marmara. The region has a distinctly Mediterranean climate with mild, wet winters and warm, dry summers. The terrain is generally rolling, a matrix of productive farms and intensively managed forests. The Black Sea region along Turkey’s northern coast is cool and humid throughout most years. The landscape is extensively fragmented by agriculture including orchards and tea plantations. Intensively managed hardwood and conifer forests dominate the higher slopes of the Northern Anatolian Mountains which rise steeply and block moisture from the Black Sea from reaching the interior of the Anatolian Plateau.
On its southern border, the Taurus Mountains also rise steeply from the Mediterranean Sea forming a narrow band of Mediterranean climate.
COASTAL FORESTS. The Taurus Mountains rise abruptly from the Mediterranean Sea. This results in rapid urban-wildland transitions, steep vegetation and fuel type gradients with elevation, and forests dominated by Turkish red pine (Pinus brutia) from 0 to 5,000 ft (0 to1,500 m); European black pine (P. nigra) from 1,300 to 6,900 ft (400 to 2,100 m); and Cedars of Lebanon (Cedrus libani) from 2,600 to 7,500 ft (800-2300 m).
FLAMMABLE SHRUB. The foreground “maquis” shrub vegetation is similar to California chaparral and indicates past fire. The water impoundment is a yangın havuzu (“fire pool”) at 2,382 ft elevation, on the slopes of the 7,762-foot (2 366 m) Mount Tahtali. Such fire pools are strategically placed throughout the Mediterranean region and are a critical resource for initial attack.
Similarly, the Taurus Mountains block moisture from the Sea. As a result, the interior Anatolian Plateau is predominantly a semi-arid shrub-steppe similar to the high deserts of the Great Basin and Columbian Plateau east of the southern Cascade Range of California, Oregon. Summers are hot and dry and winter cold and harsh often with deep snows.
Wheat and barley farming are common on the productive sites while animal husbandry (primarily goats and sheep), alkali flats and terminal (endorheic), saline lakes dominate the less productive sites. And, like the semiarid lands east of the Cascades one might encounter a herd of wild horses (photos below). The Northern Anatolian and Taurus Mountains converge in eastern Turkey with high, inhospitable mountains bosting peaks over 10,000-feet (>3,000m) with Mount Ararat 16,853 feet (5,137m) the highest point in Turkey. These ranges are the headwaters of the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers that defined ancient Mesopotamia.
While the similarities of climate, terrain and natural vegetation bear striking resemblance to large areas of the western United States, the scale of intensive farming, forestry and grazing is quite different. As a result of several millennia of intensive land use vs. less than two centuries in the western US, few areas in Turkey could be characterized as “untrammeled by man.”
The rugged topography and history of intensive land use have resulted in a highly fragmented landscape that limits the free spread of fires (photos below), but the land is in transition. Roughly 7 million people live in 22,000 villages located in or near the forests, a drop of 800,000 in the last decade. As is the case in many Mediterranean countries, the decline in traditional land use results in a build-up of fine fuels and an increase in fire potential. Migration of people from rural areas to urban centers stands is in contrast to the influx of urbanites moving into the wildland urban interface of the western US. In recent years, rapidly increasing population and urbanization have increased the pressure on forests for recreational use rather than agrarian subsistence. This is particularly true in the southern and western coastal areas which are preferred by both, domestic and foreign tourists. Around 40 million visitors come to Turkey each year. This change has implications for wildland fuel dynamics and Turkey’s fire prevention program.
Turkey wildfires: Helicopters, planes douse flames in Izmir as strong winds fan blaze
What’s going on in Turkey after a wildfire?
Efforts to extinguish the wildfire continue as two hotels and many houses in the area are evacuated (Photo: Mehmet Emin Menguarslan/Anadolu via Getty Images) Wildfires have sparked in Turkey after temperatures surged to above 40°C due to a severe heatwave.
How many wildfires have happened in Turkey this year?
Throughout the night, aircraft equipped with night vision cameras in İzmir’s Selçuk district worked to combat fire, with ground and air efforts resuming today. Turkey has already experienced 74 wildfires this year (Photo: Mehmet Emin Menguarslan/Anadolu via Getty Images)
Are wildfires common in Turkey?
Wildfires are common in Turkey’s Mediterranean and Aegean regions during the dry summer months, although some have previously been blamed on arson or outlawed Kurdish militants. At least four people have died – including a volunteer firefighter who was taking drinking water to his colleagues.
Where are the worst fires in Turkey?
The worst fires have occurred along Turkey’s Mediterranean and Aegean coasts – a major tourist region. Over the weekend dramatic videos showed tourists being evacuated from beach resorts by boat, with Turkish Coastguard vessels involved in rescue operations.