Qatar’s Emir, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, has dispatched a team from the Gulf state’s International Search and Rescue Group of the Internal Security, Lekhwiya Force, to Turkey to aid with rescue efforts amid devastating wildfires, according to Doha News.
The Emir’s decision was revealed during a phone call between Qatar’s Prime Minister and Minister of Interior Sheikh Khalid bin Khalifa bin Abdulaziz Al Thani and Turkish Interior Minister Süleyman Soylu on Saturday, according to Doha’s state news agency (QNA).
Sheikh Khalid also sent his condolences to the victims of the fire, which has claimed the lives of at least six individuals so far. On Saturday, two firefighters were killed when they collided during rescue attempts in Manavgat.
On Wednesday, wildfires erupted in Antalya, Mersin, and the western coastal province of Muğla, among other places in Turkey.
91 of the flames have been contained and thousands of people have been evacuated from their homes and vacation resorts since last week, with the most recent fire breaking out on Saturday at a Bodrum resort.
During a visit to Manavgat on Saturday, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan declared that all destroyed houses will be rebuilt and losses paid, adding that the afflicted districts now are “disaster areas.”
Many countries in the MENA region, as well as Europe and Asia, have sent assistance to the country and expressed their condolences to the victims of the fires.
