Spain To Send 3 Planes To Help Turkey Tackle Wildfires - Government

MADRID (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 02nd August, 2021) Spain will send two amphibious planes and a transport plane to Turkey to help it fight forest fires as part of the European Union assistance policy, the Spanish government said on Monday.

This past Saturday, EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said the European Union was ready to help Turkey in tackling the wildfires. The Spanish government said that its assistance will be channeled to Turkey through the bloc's rescEU facility.

"Spain will send 3 aircraft to fight the more than 100 fires unleashed on the southern coast of Turkey," the government said on Twitter.

The aircraft will arrive in the Turkish city of Dalaman in the southwestern province of Mugla from Monday to early Tuesday, as stated in the press release. The Spanish contingent will consist of 27 military personnel, including 22 crew members and five specialists from the military unit for emergency situations.

"Spain is happy to contribute to the [EU] response. I want to express solidarity with the victims of this terrible disaster, as well as the specialists who are fighting the spread of the fire," Spanish Foreign Minister Jose Manuel Albares said on Twitter.

Wildfires broke out last week, affecting at least 35 Turkish provinces, chiefly on the Mediterranean and Aegean coasts. The fire killed eight and injured 864, as of Sunday, as stated by Health Minister Fahrettin Koca.

Earlier on Monday, Turkish Minister of Agriculture and Forestry, Bekir Pakdemirli, said that 125 of the fires have been extinguished and seven others remain out of control in the resort provinces of Antalya and Mugla.