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Polish FM offers support for Turkey amid wildfires

05.08.2021 22:00
Polish Foreign Minister Zbigniew Rau has offered support for Turkey in dealing with wildfires that have killed at least eight people and destroyed large swathes of forest in that country during the last several days.
A wildfire burning close to the Kemerkoy Thermal Power Plant in the Milas district of Mula, Turkey.
A wildfire burning close to the Kemerkoy Thermal Power Plant in the Milas district of Muğla, Turkey.Photo: PAP/ EPA/ALI BALLI

In a telephone conversation with his Turkish counterpart Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu, Rau on Thursday voiced Poland's solidarity with Turkey in the face of the wildfires and offered help on behalf of the Polish president and government, according to the foreign ministry in Warsaw.

Rau said in a tweet that "details of the aid" remained "to be agreed."

He added that his talk with Çavuşoğlu "confirmed Poland's friendly relationship with Turkey."

Turkey's Çavuşoğlu, for his part, thanked Rau for his offer of help.

"I would like to thank my dear friend Zbigniew for his support and expressions of solidarity," Çavuşoğlu said in a Polish-language tweet.

Poland's Zbigniew Rau and Turkey's Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu meet in Antalya, Turkey in June. Poland's Zbigniew Rau and Turkey's Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu meet in Antalya, Turkey in June. Photo: PAP/Radek Pietruszka

Turkish firefighters, supported by their colleagues from Croatia, Spain, Ukraine, Russia, Azerbaijan and Iran, have been battling wildfires in the south of Turkey over the past eight days, public broadcaster Polish Radio’s IAR news agency reported on Thursday.

A firefighting plane battles a wildfire near Mugla, Turkey, this week. A firefighting plane battles a wildfire near Muğla, southwestern Turkey, this week. Photo: EPA/ERDEM SAHIN

Greece has also offered its help, according to officials.

(tf/gs)

Source: IAR, Twitter