 of negligence and prioritizing partisan interests amid the country’s escalating wildfires, urging the government to adopt an apolitical and competent approach to addressing the crisis.){kind=link}
Ekrem İmamoğlu, İstanbul’s jailed mayor and an opposition presidential candidate, has accused Turkey’s ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) of negligence and prioritizing partisan interests amid the country’s escalating wildfires, urging the government to adopt an apolitical and competent approach to addressing the crisis.
Wildfires over the past week have led to at least 14 deaths in Turkey and sparked the evacuation of 19 villages and more than 3,500 people elsewhere from their homes.
In a statement posted on X, İmamoğlu questioned the government’s repeated claims that Turkey is the “most prepared country” for wildfires, asking, “Then why are our forests still burning? Why do flames destroy villages, nature and living beings every summer?”
"Ormanlar yanıyor, ama iktidar hâlâ aynı sözleri tekrar ediyor, her eleştiriye aynı yanıt veriliyor:
“Yangınlara en hazırlıklı ülke biziz.”
Peki o zaman neden ormanlarımız hâlâ cayır cayır yanıyor?
Neden her yaz alevler canlıları, doğayı, köyleri yok ediyor?
Cevabı net:
İktidar,…— Cumhurbaşkanlığı Aday Ofisi (@CBAdayOfisi) July 29, 2025
The imprisoned mayor criticized the government for politicizing a critical issue, failing to be transparent about firefighting resources and maintaining a partisan stance.
He urged the ruling AKP to abandon partisan practices in wildfire management, calling for the appointment of “qualified people who know the region and the job” rather than those selected through political connections. Underlining the need for institutional reform, he demanded the revival of the Turkish Aeronautical Association (THK) for the maintenance of a fleet of firefighting aircraft and the delegation of coordination efforts to “competent hands,” stressing that local governments should be utilized “regardless of their political affiliation.”
Seen as the strongest political rival of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, İmamoğlu was arrested on March 23 on corruption charges, widely seen as politically motivated. His detention on March 19 led to widespread protests unseen in Turkey since the anti-government protests of 2013.
55 fires extinguished, one still burning in Bursa: minister
Meanwhile, Agriculture and Forestry Minister İbrahim Yumaklı said on Tuesday that 55 wildfires reported in the past 24 hours had been brought under control, leaving only one major fire still active in Bursa’s Harmancık district.
Speaking at a press briefing, Yumaklı said, “We continue to fight this fire with five planes, 30 helicopters and 855 land vehicles.”
Local residents in Bursa have supported firefighting efforts with water tankers and vehicles, while multiple villages have been evacuated as a precaution, the state-run Anadolu news agency said.
Police detain 5 in ongoing wildfire investigation
The recent wave of wildfires has led to a series of legal actions, including the detention on Tuesday of four suspects — identified only by the initials S.D., A.K., M.B. and M.A. — as part of an investigation into a forest fire that broke out on July 26 between the Orhaneli and Harmancık districts of Bursa.
The individuals are accused of starting the fire by launching fireworks. Their detention followed the arrest of another suspect, Ufuk A., on Monday, in connection with the same fire. The blaze led to the precautionary evacuation of seven villages as strong winds fueled the flames.
Critics point out that the number of annual forest fires has steadily risen under the AKP, from an average of 1,916 per year before 2002 to 2,733 per year in the last decade.
Critics argue that despite a clear rise in the number of forest fires over the past two decades, authorities have failed to take necessary precautions, such as expanding aerial firefighting capacity or increasing the budget and staffing of the forestry directorate. Instead of strengthening prevention, they say the government treated forest fires as an opportunity, allowing burned lands to lose their protected status and reallocating them for construction, mining and tourism projects, to ultimately fuel a system of public land profiteering.