ERBIL, Kurdistan Region — Four people have been killed and more than 180 injured in massive wildfires on Turkey’s Mediterranean coast that firefighters are battling from more than 1,000 spots.

"The battle against forest fires is still ongoing at 1,140 points," President Recep Tayyip Erdogan as saying on Friday, state-owned Anadolu Agency reported.

Fires have raged since Wednesday, spreading to at least 21 provinces, severely affecting Mediterranean provinces, especially Antalya where three people were killed. A fourth person died in Mugla province, Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said.

Four thousand personnel, three planes, nine unmanned aerial vehicles, one unmanned helicopter, 38 helicopters, 55 heavy duty vehicles, 680 water tenders, and one water tank are battling the blazes, Agriculture and Forestry Minister Bekir Pakdemirli said on Friday.

Under direct instructions from Erdogan, all state resources had been mobilized to “heal the wounds of people affected by the fires,” said Environment and Urbanization Minister Murat Kurum.

The cause of the fire is being investigated with some suspicions that it may have been arson. 

World leaders have offered Ankara help.

"The Azerbaijani government and nation stand in solidarity with the fellow Turkish nation, as always," Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev said in a message to Erdogan on Friday, offering his condolences for all those who lost their lives in the fires.

“Ukraine will provide Turkey with all the necessary assistance. Our firefighting plane will depart to Turkey tomorrow,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Twitter.

Russia has also sent firefighting planes to Turkey, Erdogan said on Friday. 

Wildfires are raging across the Middle East during scorching hot weather. 

In the Kurdistan Region, fire burned for days through the Zawita forest northeast of Duhok city.

Volunteer environmentalists risk their lives to battle forest fires in Kurdish areas of Iran. Forests in Mariwan, Kurdistan province burned for days this week. Environmentalist group Chya Sabz said they have put out more than 120 fires this spring and summer.

Fires are also burning in Lebanon. 


WARNING: Graphic images

Photos: Ilyas Akengin/AFP