Devastating fires in Turkey expose lack of resources

The dispatch of two Spanish seaplanes to Turkey to fight the serious fires that have been raging for six days along the southern and western coast of the country has reignited the political debate over Ankara's lack of emergency preparedness and the absence of its own resources.

All the firefighting planes used by Turkey to fight the 100 or so fires that have broken out over the past six days - seven of them still active - and which have caused eight deaths and thousands of evacuees are foreign-owned.

"Russia sent five planes, Ukraine three, Azerbaijan one, Iran one, Spain two and Croatia one," Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavusoglu told reporters today, thanking all countries for their help.

But this dependence on foreign countries comes as a surprise to many in a country that prides itself on having an important military and aeronautical industry and even exports unmanned aircraft. 

In fact, since 2009, Turkey has owned nine seaplanes almost identical to the two Canadair CL-415s sent by Spain, but unable to fly due to lack of maintenance, pilots and opposition politicians have recalled in conversation with Efe.

The planes, of the CL-215 type, belong to the Turkish Aviation Institute (THK), an organisation founded in 1925, and until 2018 were routinely involved in firefighting work, but since then they have been rusting in the hangars.

In 2019, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan appointed an external manager for the THK, dominated by social democratic opposition figures, and numerous pilots were dismissed.

The manager, Cenap Asçi, explained to the daily "Sabah" that the aircraft had been maintained until 2018 by mechanics from the Canadian manufacturer, but that the necessary repairs would now require an investment of four million dollars.

This is not an onerous sum, says social democrat MP Veli Agbaba in a telephone conversation with Efe: "They say they can't pay four million dollars, but they pay 203 million liras (24 million dollars) to rent three (Russian) planes for 150 days".

Economist Candan Karlitekin, former head of the Turkish flag carrier Turkish Airlines, goes further, claiming on Twitter that "buying and maintaining five fleets of seven firefighting planes each would cost no more than a single Airbus VIP", referring to the Turkish presidential fleet, which has several such models among its 13 aircraft.

A former military pilot with close ties to the THK told Efe on condition of anonymity that Turkey could have some of the firefighting aircraft up and running in a few days, without the need for foreign experts.

"The CL-215s have not been maintained for two years and are rusting, but if repaired, they could all fly for much less than four million dollars. The Turkish air force has workshops for this and we often refurbish even warplanes," said the aviator.

"Two of these planes could fly in five days, if the instructions are given," Bayram Duman, a former senior Turkish Airlines official, also told the online daily "Gazeteduvar". 

"The difference between our CL-215s and the CL-415s sent by Spain is five buckets of water. They have a weaker engine, but the performance is almost the same," Duman said, stressing that six of the nine aircraft could be ready for fire-fighting missions in less than a month.

The sudden spate of fires, with more than 150 outbreaks since Wednesday in several provinces along the Mediterranean and Aegean coasts, has caused national consternation in Turkey and has even triggered speculation about possible sabotage or terrorist acts by Kurdish guerrillas.

Eight people, two of them firefighters, have died so far in the fires, almost all in the virulent outbreak in Manavgat, in the southern province of Antalya.

One young man died while volunteering with firefighters near Marmaris on the Aegean coast, a tourist area where the blaze has forced the evacuation of villages, housing estates and hotels, in some cases by sea. 

It is in this region where the two Spanish planes are operating, which arrived at Dalaman airport on Tuesday morning and barely an hour later set off on their first mission to the Köycegiz fire, according to Lieutenant Colonel Vicente Franco, who explained to Efe.

The entire team, transported by a Casa-295 transport plane that landed yesterday, consists of 22 people and will stay "as long as it is useful", said the military official.

The dispatch of the mission has been coordinated directly between the Spanish and Turkish governments, within the framework of the European Union's Civil Defence Mechanism.