As a result of the inadequacy of the intervention from official institutions, we leave the word to the women who saved their lives with their own means and solidarity, but whose animals, lands and houses gave in to the fire: “What use are our lives from now on?”
For the past eight days, Turkey has been battling wildfires. The fires that ravaged the Mediterranean and the Aegean reached the city centres in some areas, forcing residents to evacuate their homes.
Hundreds of fires raged across Manavgat, Marmaris, and Bodrum, turning the region into hell.
In many provinces, the full extent of the damage caused by forest fires is unknown. Thousands of animals are thought to have died as a result of the fires.
The flames in Manavgat, Antalya, that erupted at midday on July 28 are still burning. In Antalya’s Manavgat, Akseki, Gazipaşa, Gündomuş, and Alanya districts, 35 neighbourhoods were entirely evacuated, while 15 others were partially evacuated. While firemen and residents of the region battle the flames, residents of the towns where the fires were quenched tried to hide the evidence of the devastation.
The wildfire that began on July 28 in Marmaris’ Armutalan District has spread to Hisarönü, Delikyol, Içmeler, and other nearby villages. While the majority of the pine trees in this area burnt, many residents and businesses were forced to flee.
The forest fire that started on July 31 in Bodrum, on the other hand, devastated the Mazi and Cökertme districts. Many individuals in these areas have been unable to return to their houses. Some locals clean up the scraps that have been left behind in their homes, while others strive to select a few materials that are suited for them from the assistance they have received.
As a result of the inadequacy of the intervention from official institutions, we leave the word to the women who saved their lives with their own means and through solidarity, but whose animals, lands and houses gave in to the fire.
From Cökertme
Gulsevi Akkas
“We were terrified for our lives, and we were terrified for our property. Our olive groves are gone, burned to ashes. What good is our life from now on?”
Fatma Aydin
“All of our lands were burned down. Of course, we are afraid. We spent the night outside. We’re anxious. It’s still burning. All our hope is gone.”
Serpil Ozden
“We had no security other than our home. How will we pay the government? We can’t pay, we couldn’t even pay our bills. We don’t have a pension; we don’t have an annual. Our forests are gone, our lives are all we have left.”
Vildan Ozyilmaz
“They said, ‘Get your animals away from your village. We told them to do something. They said that they can’t, and that our forest is burning so fiercely. Of course, we were afraid. We were scared when we saw the fire.”
From Manavgat
“I have nothing left, no stuff, not one thing. I have nothing left, not even a piece of garbage, everything about me was burned.”
“Now there is no life left. There is no house left. Everywhere is gone.”
“There is nothing we can do. Trees, nothing. They think everything will happen at once. It won’t. It will take us years.”
Havva Yilmaz
“We’ve been through hell. We had the apocalypse. They say in the apocalypse that no one will see anyone. Nobody saw anybody, everyone was in trouble. We have had enough of food and clothing, but we have no bed to sleep in, no pan to cook, no curtains, nothing. So, we had everything until 4 o’clock, after 4 o’clock we needed a sip of water and a slice of bread. May Allah give strength to our state. Our government won’t leave us alone in this thing, I know.”
Hatice Şöhretli
“All my money was burned inside. The interior of the house burned as well. I don’t have a pot, I don’t have a plate, I don’t have a tube, I don’t have a house. Then why would you need clothes? I will stay here; I will die here. Dead or alive, I will be here.”
Makbule Oksozoglu
“My daughter was living upstairs. I was living in the middle with my 87-year-old mother who has Alzheimer’s. At the bottom were wheat, oats, sesame, whatever you can think of, which I removed from the threshing floor in the summer. All of our extra stuff was there too. All burned. My husband died 4 months ago. He had cancer. I was alone. I have no one. I don’t have a sibling either. I am a mother’s child. I have to take care of her, of course I took her too, I fled down to the sea. The soul was more precious than the house. I unleashed the animals. 2 of them were burned and the others survived. Many thanks to our people. They made us neither hungry nor thirsty. Food came every day. They brought it every day. But we want this house built. We would like help.”
Sinem Korkmaz
“We started calling AFAD at 11 am. We told them to run our generator, that we could protect our homes ourselves. AFAD never gave us our water. We have generators in all our water tanks. These generators were bought with the taxes of this nation. They did not come and run not even one of our generators. Everyone extinguished their houses. We’ve been through a fire like this before. We had water. We extinguished our house. Nowhere was burned. Firefighters came to us from all provinces and districts. But nobody directed the fire brigades, nobody gave them orders. We burned here in plain sight. While we were burning like this, no one came and gave us a glass of water. What will grow? Where did these people’s forty years of hard work go?”
From Milas…
Gunay Gokbel
“Our house, which we inherited from our grandfather and father, was burnt down. Not only our belongings, but also our memories, the memories of our mother and father were destroyed. I can’t leave my house for two days; I took sanctuary in my brothers. How will I leave the house where I was born, grew up in and lived? The areas around our village where we grew honey and grazed our animals were also destroyed. We have neither the financial strength nor the morale to start a new life. Confused, sad, shocked, I don’t know what to say.”
“They said we had to leave the village; how are we going to do that?” Our entire lives have accumulated here; we fled with the children, and my wife was obliged to defend the hostel. At the last possible minute, we saved our animals and our lives. There are a lot of houses on fire. However, no one is coming or going, asking about our predicament or offering assistance. We don’t know what will happen next, how tourism will be handled here, or who will reimburse our losses because of the fire. There is no one who cares or provides information. How many days do we go without electricity or running water? The touristic Cökertme town and its seashore were left to their fate; the beach is unaffected, but the cottages, beehives, and places where they reside in the hamlet were burned.”
*The statements were obtained from footage of BBC and DW Turkish correspondents speaking to residents of the area where the fires raged and were put out.