Some 187 fires broke out in Turkey in the last eight days, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said late Wednesday during a televised interview, adding that 15 of them are currently ongoing.
The president also shared information about Turkey's efforts in putting out the blazes.
"51 helicopters, 20 planes are engaged in operations to douse forest fires," Daily Sabah cited him as saying.
Turkey managed to bring most fires in over 30 provinces under control but new flare-ups are adding to the country's woes. Manavgat, where the first major blaze broke out one week ago, is still grappling with the flames as new fires erupt in the western regions of Isparta, Denizli, Balıkesir and Manisa over the last two days.
Official figures from Tuesday show two fires underway in Antalya’s Manavgat and Gündoğmuş districts. Muğla has the most fires with five out of 13 blazes still threatening popular vacation resorts and rural areas in the districts of Marmaris, Köyceğiz, Menteşe and Milas.
The General Directorate of Forestry announced Wednesday that 174 fires broke out in the last eight days in 39 provinces and 160 of them were under control. The directorate said 16 water bomber planes, nine drones, 45 helicopters and around 5,250 firefighters had been mobilized to put out the fires.
