Thousands Evacuated as Firefighters Tackle Blazes in Southwest Turkey

Smoke rises from a wildfire in Datca in Mugla province, Turkey July 13, 2022. Mugla Regional Forestry Directorate/Handout via REUTERS
Smoke rises from a wildfire in Datca in Mugla province, Turkey July 13, 2022. Mugla Regional Forestry Directorate/Handout via REUTERS
TT
20

Thousands Evacuated as Firefighters Tackle Blazes in Southwest Turkey

Smoke rises from a wildfire in Datca in Mugla province, Turkey July 13, 2022. Mugla Regional Forestry Directorate/Handout via REUTERS
Smoke rises from a wildfire in Datca in Mugla province, Turkey July 13, 2022. Mugla Regional Forestry Directorate/Handout via REUTERS

Thousands of People were evacuated due to a wildfire in Turkey's southwestern Datca peninsula, as firefighters battled on Thursday to contain the blazes fanned by strong winds that spread to residential areas overnight.

Forestry Minister Vahit Kirisci said preliminary investigations showed the fire broke out at an electrical transformer around midday on Wednesday, the Associated Press said.

"What makes our job a little more difficult is the wind effect, the direction and intensity of which are unpredictable," he said early on Thursday.

Turkey's Disaster Management Authority (AFAD) said some 450 houses and 3,530 people were evacuated as fires reached residential areas in the sparsely populated parts of the peninsula.

Footage from Wednesday showed smoke billowing from the woodlands as helicopters doused water on the blazes while the flames spread. It also showed the garden of a house engulfed in smoke, with trees in the yard catching fire.

The Mugla province mayor's office said 17 houses and 728 hectares of land were affected by the fire. It shared data that showed winds in the region had eased significantly on Thursday morning.

Health Minister Fahrettin Koca said 19 people had been affected by the fire and nine of them were still being treated as of Thursday morning.

Authorities said 10 planes and 20 helicopters, including one that can operate at night, were involved in the efforts to douse the flames.

Countries including France and Portugal - suffering from a second heatwave in as many months - have been hit by a series of wildfires over the last few weeks.

Scientists say human-induced climate change is making heatwaves more likely and more severe.

The blazes in southwestern Turkey conjured memories of last year's summer fires that ravaged 140,000 hectares (345,950 acres) of countryside, the worst on record.

Another fire that broke out in the Aegean resort town of Cesme was contained on Thursday morning, the forestry authority said.



US Agency Focused on Foreign Disinformation Shuts Down

The State Department's Global Engagement Center has faced scrutiny and criticism from Republican lawmakers and Elon Musk. Mandel NGAN / AFP
The State Department's Global Engagement Center has faced scrutiny and criticism from Republican lawmakers and Elon Musk. Mandel NGAN / AFP
TT
20

US Agency Focused on Foreign Disinformation Shuts Down

The State Department's Global Engagement Center has faced scrutiny and criticism from Republican lawmakers and Elon Musk. Mandel NGAN / AFP
The State Department's Global Engagement Center has faced scrutiny and criticism from Republican lawmakers and Elon Musk. Mandel NGAN / AFP

A leading US government agency that tracks foreign disinformation has terminated its operations, the State Department said Tuesday, after Congress failed to extend its funding following years of Republican criticism.
The Global Engagement Center, a State Department unit established in 2016, shuttered on Monday at a time when officials and experts tracking propaganda have been warning of the risk of disinformation campaigns from US adversaries such as Russia and China, AFP reported.
"The State Department has consulted with Congress regarding next steps," it said in a statement when asked what would happen to the GEC's staff and its ongoing projects following the shutdown.
The GEC had an annual budget of $61 million and a staff of around 120. Its closing leaves the State Department without a dedicated office for tracking and countering disinformation from US rivals for the first time in eight years.
A measure to extend funding for the center was stripped out of the final version of the bipartisan federal spending bill that passed through the US Congress last week.
The GEC has long faced scrutiny from Republican lawmakers, who accused it of censoring and surveilling Americans.
It also came under fire from Elon Musk, who accused the GEC in 2023 of being the "worst offender in US government censorship [and] media manipulation" and called the agency a "threat to our democracy."
The GEC's leaders have pushed back on those views, calling their work crucial to combating foreign propaganda campaigns.
Musk had loudly objected to the original budget bill that would have kept GEC funding, though without singling out the center. The billionaire is an advisor to President-elect Donald Trump and has been tapped to run the new Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), tasked with reducing government spending.
In June, James Rubin, special envoy and coordinator for the GEC, announced the launch of a multinational group based in Warsaw to counter Russian disinformation on the war in neighboring Ukraine.
The State Department said the initiative, known as the Ukraine Communications Group, would bring together partner governments to coordinate messaging, promote accurate reporting of the war and expose Kremlin information manipulation.
In a report last year, the GEC warned that China was spending billions of dollars globally to spread disinformation and threatening to cause a "sharp contraction" in freedom of speech around the world.