Izmir Airport temporarily suspended operations due to forest fires

Turkey's Izmir International Airport has temporarily suspended flights due to ongoing forest fires in the province.

This was reported by the Milliyet newspaper.

Flights will resume after the fires are brought under control.

Izmir Governor Suleyman Elban said that large forest fires have broken out in three districts of the region. Residents of several districts where the fire has reached residential areas have been evacuated.

1,100 firefighters, six aircraft, 23 fire trucks and bulldozers have been deployed to extinguish the fires. Due to strong winds, the speed of which varies from 70 to 117 kilometers per hour, most of the aviation cannot operate.

150 forest fires have been registered in Turkey in two days, 83 of which were on Saturday.

Turkish Justice Minister Yilmaz Tunc announced the arrest of 17 people suspected of causing forest fires in the country's provinces.