The scale of the fires in Turkey is a result of negligence

Baku/04.08.21/Turan: For a week, Turkey has been extinguishing forest fires in 38 regions. It is noteworthy that these fires, which caused human casualties and serious economic and environmental damage to the country, occur in the popular tourist areas of the Black Sea and Mediterranean Seas. There are two versions. According to the first, these fires are a natural disaster. According to the second, the cause of the fires is terrorism. Security expert Ilham Ismail shared his opinion on this in the "Difficult Question" program.

The expert does not exclude both versions, but he is inclined to believe that the disaster that befell Turkey is natural. He drew attention to the fact that forest fires are raging in neighboring Greece in 51 places. Fires are observed in Sicily and a number of countries located on the shores of the Adriatic, and here in the Lankaran and Yardimli regions.

According to him, the accusations of the opposition parties of the government have a ground, since ensuring environmental safety is a direct responsibility of the state.

“The environmental threat can be both spontaneous and anthropogenic in nature. The government must promptly take the necessary measures to prevent them and eliminate their consequences if they do happen. Moreover, not only the structures responsible for the environment and emergency situations (in this case, firefighters), but oddly enough, and the secret services, should bear responsibility,” Ismail stressed.

The expert noted that all secret services have a special action program related to environmental safety and containing certain directives, according to which, these structures must promptly identify possible threats, their degree, and promptly inform the government about all this. The government must take the necessary measures. If these measures are not taken, then the special services should additionally inform the government.

Ismail stressed that the forests on the coast of the Aegean Sea are quite deserted and there is little moisture there. Therefore, these forests were not grown by nature, but man-made. Since it is rather dry there, and the slightest spark is enough to break out a fire. It should also be understood that Turkey's tourism business has always been and is a target for the PKK (Kurdistan Workers' Party) terrorist organization. In addition, it is necessary to take into account that in the region winds are constantly blowing, which only intensify the fires, the scale of the disaster. Therefore, the Turkish government had to constantly modernize the existing fire-fighting equipment, create large-capacity water barns in hard-to-reach areas, and take other measures. All this had to be done regardless of the nature of these fires, be they spontaneous or the work of terrorists.

“But I don’t think one can talk about the unprofessionalism of Erdogan’s government, as the opposition does. Erdogan's government is just highly professional. However, negligence in this direction is evident,” the expert concluded. –0—