Wildfire in southwest Turkey largely under control -minister

Firefighters battled to extinguish the wildfire from air and land, officials said

A wildfire in southwestern Turkey was largely contained on Wednesday, Forestry Minister Vahit Kirisci said, after scenes of burning woodland reminded Turks of blazes last year that devastated tens of thousands of hectares across the region, Qazet.az reports.

Aerial footage from forestry authorities earlier showed smoke billowing as fire spread through a forest in the sparsely populated area, fanned by strong winds.

Firefighters battled to extinguish the wildfire from air and land, officials said. The cause of the fire, which began around 8 pm local time on Tuesday, remained unclear.

Kirisci said higher humidity and relatively lower temperatures were positive factors compared to the dry and extremely hot weather during last year's fires.

"Our hope is that this issue is concluded today. We can cautiously say that the fire has largely been brought under control," he said, speaking in the area of Bordubet where the fire broke out near the Aegean coastal resort of Marmaris.

Nearly 1,500 personnel, more than 360 vehicles, 20 helicopters and 14 planes were involved in tackling the blaze, Qazet.az reports according to Turkiye's officials.

President Tayyip Erdogan's government was criticised as being unprepared to fight the fires last year. They responded by saying the fires were the worst in Turkey's history.

Human-induced climate change is making heatwaves more likely and more severe, scientists say.