Fire in Southeast Türkiye Kills 11, Greece Evacuates Villages for Safety

Firefighters work to extinguish a fire burning near Kumkoy, in Gallipoli peninsula, Türkiye, Tuesday, June 18, 2024. (Sercan Ozkurnazli/Dia Photo via AP)
Firefighters work to extinguish a fire burning near Kumkoy, in Gallipoli peninsula, Türkiye, Tuesday, June 18, 2024. (Sercan Ozkurnazli/Dia Photo via AP)
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Fire in Southeast Türkiye Kills 11, Greece Evacuates Villages for Safety

Firefighters work to extinguish a fire burning near Kumkoy, in Gallipoli peninsula, Türkiye, Tuesday, June 18, 2024. (Sercan Ozkurnazli/Dia Photo via AP)
Firefighters work to extinguish a fire burning near Kumkoy, in Gallipoli peninsula, Türkiye, Tuesday, June 18, 2024. (Sercan Ozkurnazli/Dia Photo via AP)

A fire that apparently started in crop stubble spread through settlements in southeast Türkiye overnight, killing 11 people and leaving dozens of others requiring medical treatment, officials and news reports said Friday.

In neighboring Greece, authorities evacuated several villages in the southern Peloponnese region because of wildfires.

The blaze in Türkiye broke out in an area between the provinces of Diyarbakir and Mardin. Fanned by winds, it moved quickly through the villages of Koksalan, Yazcicegi and Bagacik, Diyarbakir Gov. Ali Ihsan Su said. The fire was brought under control early Friday.

Health Minister Fahrettin Koca posted on X that 11 people were killed. Around 80 others required treatment, including six who were in serious condition.

Justice Minister Yilmaz Tunc said that authorities have launched an investigation into the cause of the fire, which lit up the night sky.

Residents believe the blaze was caused by sparks from a power line that set crop residue ablaze, according to independent news website Gazete Duvar. Some of the hospitalized people were villagers who tried to extinguish the fire, it said.

Hundreds of farm animals also perished in the fire, according to news channel HaberTurk.

Across the country in northwest Türkiye, meanwhile, firefighters were battling a wildfire near the town of Ayvacik in Canakkale province, the state-run Anadolu Agency said.

No one was hurt, but authorities evacuated the small village of Camkoy as a precaution, the agency reported.

It was one of several wildfires that have erupted in the province of Canakkale in the past week amid high winds and scorching summer temperatures.

Wildfires also erupted in Greece amid very windy, hot and dry conditions. About a dozen villages or settlements were ordered evacuated as a precaution because of wildfires in the southern Peloponnese region.

There were no immediate reports of injuries. State-run ERT television reported at least six homes burned in one southern village that had been safely evacuated in advance. Firefighters on the ground were assisted by water-dropping aircraft.

The greater Athens region was on the top wildfire emergency footing Friday because of the weather forecast, with bans on entering forests and parks. A fire in the area of Saronida, south of the Greek capital, was brought under control in the evening.

The fire service said late Friday that 64 wildfires had broken out around the country in the previous 24 hours.



Russia's Rosatom to Lead Consortium to Build First Nuclear Power Plant in Kazakhstan

A long time exposure picture shows the nuclear power plant in Grohnde, Germany, March 5, 2013. Picture taken March 5, 2013. REUTERS/Fabian Bimmer 
A long time exposure picture shows the nuclear power plant in Grohnde, Germany, March 5, 2013. Picture taken March 5, 2013. REUTERS/Fabian Bimmer 
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Russia's Rosatom to Lead Consortium to Build First Nuclear Power Plant in Kazakhstan

A long time exposure picture shows the nuclear power plant in Grohnde, Germany, March 5, 2013. Picture taken March 5, 2013. REUTERS/Fabian Bimmer 
A long time exposure picture shows the nuclear power plant in Grohnde, Germany, March 5, 2013. Picture taken March 5, 2013. REUTERS/Fabian Bimmer 

Russia's state nuclear corporation Rosatom and state-owned China National Nuclear Corporation have been tapped to lead separate consortiums to build the first nuclear power plants in Kazakhstan, the country's atomic energy agency said on Saturday.

Other proposals came from the state-owned China National Nuclear Corporation, as well as French and South Korean companies.

It was not immediately clear which other companies would participate in the Rosatom-led consortium, nor the cost and timeline of Rosatom’s proposal.

The two-reactor plant will be built in the village of Ulken, about 400 km northwest of Almaty, the commercial capital.

In October, Kazakhstan voted in a referendum, backed by its president, in favor of constructing nuclear power plants. The country says it plans to have 2.4 gigawatts of nuclear capacity by 2035.

The oil- and gas-rich nation of 20 million has not had any nuclear power generation capacity since 1999, when the BN-350 reactor on the shores of the Caspian Sea was decommissioned.

The Kazakh atomic energy agency, established this March, said it had reviewed various proposals for reactor technologies and assessed them based on nuclear power plant safety, personnel training and other criteria.

The agency “determined that the most optimal and advantageous proposals for the construction of a nuclear power plant in Kazakhstan were those received from the Russian company Rosatom,” it said.

“Currently, in accordance with Rosatom’s proposals, work has begun on the issue of attracting state export financing from the Russian Federation.”

Russian President Vladimir Putin visited Kazakhstan in November and discussed boosting energy and industry ties with the country, which exports most of its oil through Russia but is exploring alternatives.

In an article for the Kazakhstanskaya Pravda newspaper, Putin wrote that Rosatom, already involved in some projects in Kazakhstan, “is ready for new large-scale projects.”

In October, Kazakhstan voted in a referendum in favor of constructing its first nuclear power plant.

The plan, backed by President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, faced criticism from some Kazakhs.

Kazakhstan is one of the world’s biggest uranium producers but currently relies mostly on coal-powered plants for its electricity, supplemented by some hydroelectric plants and the growing renewable energy sector.

Rosatom, created by a presidential decree in 2007, says it is the only company in the world that has all technologies of the nuclear fuel cycle, from uranium mining and nuclear research to building, fueling and running nuclear power plants.