Ankara's response to forest fires ignites Kurdish anger
Kurds in southeastern Turkey believe the government was intentionally lax in combating a series of local forest fires, which residents think were intentionally set to destroy areas where fighters from the Kurdistan Workers Party had been known to operate in the past.
Every summer, thousands of hectares of Turkey's scarce forests are wiped out by fires, some for commercial purposes, others the result of arson and still others from carelessness. The difference this year is that the forests of southeastern Turkey are burning instead of the forests in the west.
As Turkey was preparing for Eid al-Fitr celebrations at the conclusion of Ramadan, news came from Sirnak on the night of July 15 of forest fires on Mount Cudi, a location well known in Turkey from the struggle with the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK). The fighters the PKK sent into Turkey used trails on Cudi Mountain, providing it steady mention in the news.
According to villagers, a fire broke out after dry foliage caught fire. The mayor of the town of Silopi, Seyfettin Aydemir, told Al-Monitor the foliage had been set on fire by mortars fired by a nearby military unit and the blaze spread rapidly. The first responders, Silopi Municipality teams, proved inadequate for the task at hand, and the mayor called on the townspeople for help. Residents grabbed what they could and rushed to fight the flames. According to Aydemir, it took a long time to bring the fire under control without aerial assistance.
The lack of assistance from public bodies apart from the municipality elicited angry complaints, especially on social media. Some claimed that there had been no official intervention because the fire had broken out in a Kurdish-populated area. There were also pointed remarks about the lack of media coverage. Lara Fresko tweeted, “I saw it today. Elsewhere in Turkey three planes came in two hours. Cudi has been on fire for days.” She was referring to a forest fire in Mersin, on the Mediterranean, that authorities fought from the air and the ground, quickly bringing it under control.
