Greece battles wildfire for 3rd day as Türkiye, EU states send help

7 comments

1. Two firefighting planes and a helicopter sent by Türkiye to help Greece fight a massive wildfire have landed at Athens Eleftherios Venizelos International Airport, diplomatic sources have said.

   Earlier, Türkiye offered assistance to Greece in containing a wildfire that started in the Varnavas area near the Greek capital, Athens and spread to other parts of the Attica region due to high winds.

   Sources revealed on Tuesday that Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan informed Athens of Ankara’s readiness to assist Greece as part of good neighborly relations.

   Türkiye offered assistance to Greece because no major incidents occurred in the country this summer.

   **Greece’s help during deadly quakes in Türkiye**

   Greece was among the first countries to send help to Türkiye, deploying five planes with more than 7,500 blankets, 1,500 beds and 500 tents for displaced quake victims.

   Amid the diplomatic tensions between Ankara and Athens, the devastating earthquake has prompted both nations to revisit their ties with calls for a new era of diplomacy.

   At least 53,537 people were killed and over 107,000 others wounded after the magnitude 7.7 and 7.6 earthquakes struck southern Türkiye within the space of fewer than 10 hours on February 6, affecting around 13 million people.

2. Thank you

3. It’s funny how Turks and Greeks always fight but help each other in difficult situations. It is very hard to understand you guys

4. I don’t understand why this surprises people. Forests, rivers, and seas all belong to all humans, and loss of them impacts all.

5. So much to gain from friendship. so much to lose for enmity. Can you imagine greek-turkish search teams in Aegan working together for search of petrol.

6. This is not directly newsworthy for anyone following it. [Same happened last year in Rhodes](https://global.chinadaily.com.cn/a/202307/27/WS64c14fc4a31035260b818ab2.html). Aircraft that battled the Çanakkale fires were dispatched to Rhodes to help the neighbour after their task was completed.

   Turkey prepared nicely for the summer seasons since the horrible 2020-21 wildfires. Forest ministry got some 5 new helicopters and smaller FireBoss aircraft, older C-215’s were modernized, number of contractors from Russia, Moldova etc. grew larger and Columbia Helicopters with their much larger Chinooks now are based in Turkey for the season on an open contract since 2021. Army was also tasked with helping the ministry when it got too bad and firefighting equipment like bambi buckets were built by the army maintenance centers and added to the inventory so that’s upwards of 50 more helicopters that can be employed when needed.

   And luckily for us we were spared the worst for two years in a row. For the last 2 years, it’s Greece that had it worse and need bigger help so we send help. Next time, we know that they will send help when needed like they did last year with the earthquake.

   RescEU need to be enlarged 3 fold asap. This should be a Mediterranean led effort, not political but humane and convervatory.

7. Why do they call Turkey Türkiye all of a sudden? Why is it Greece and not Ellada?