Turkey has been battling forest fires for the past five days both by air and land.

Fire crews are working in Marmaris and Koycegiz districts of Mugla on the southern Aegean coast of Turkey on Monday to extinguish the wildfires.

The blazes first erupted in a forest in the Sirinyer neighborhood of Marmaris and spread to Icmeler, Turunc, Osmaniye, Bayir, Ciftlik, Turgut, Hisaronu, and Orhaniye neighborhoods as winds fanned them.

Firefighters worked overnight on the ground to brought the fires under control. Planes joined the efforts in the early morning to resume operations in both districts.

Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu and Agriculture and Forestry Minister Bekir Pakdemirli continued their investigations in the fire-battered areas.

Blazes broke out in at least 35 provinces, including several on Turkey’s Mediterranean coast last week, killing at least eight people so far.

As many as 271 other people have been affected, according to the Disaster and Emergency Management Authority (AFAD).

Turkish authorities are working tirelessly to put out the fires with operations ongoing both by air and land. Firefighters, including a group of 100 Azerbaijani firemen, have also been working along with locals to fight the blazes./aa

The southern regions of Italy, especially on the island of Sicily, were struggling with fires in forests and rural areas on Saturday.

Fire officials said on Twitter that 250 operations were conducted in Sicily in the past 24 hours, 130 in Puglia and Calabria, 90 in Lazio and 70 in the Campaniia region. Operations are still underway.

Nearly 200 people stranded on the coastline due to fire and heavy smoke in the southern part of Catania were evacuated via the sea by police teams.

“We have received 558 requests for help in extinguishing fires from the regions since June 15,” Civil Defense General Manager Fabrizio Curcio said at a news conference.

The number was 160 in 2020, Curcio said, adding that 33% of requests were received last week.

Last weekend, 20,000 hectares in the Oristanese countryside in the west on the island of Sardinia burned and 1,500 people were displaced./aa

Yemen, Palestine and Egypt conveyed their condolences Sunday to Turkey, where wildfires in the past few days have led to deaths and material damage.

Yemeni Foreign Minister Ahmad Awad bin Mubarak sent a message to his Turkish counterpart, Mevlut Cavusoglu, expressing his condolences to the families of those who lost their lives in the fires, according to Yemen’s Foreign Ministry.

Mubarak also wished a speedy recovery for the injured, stressing that Yemen is on the side of the “fraternal” Turkish people in the fight against this natural disaster.

A delegation of Palestinian scholars also issued a message of condolence.

"We are deeply saddened by the wildfires that have erupted in many parts of fraternal country Turkey," it said.

“We extend our condolences to those who lost their lives and to their families. We heartily share the pain of the fraternal Turkish people.”

The message also said that Palestine is praying for all of the firefighting teams and wishes them success.

Meanwhile Egypt’s Al-Azhar University, the highest seat of learning in the Sunni Islamic world, published a statement expressing its sorrow and conveying its condolences for the forest fire victims and their relatives as well as all the workers and volunteers trying to stem the spread of the massive fires.

Al-Azhar also wished for an urgent healing to the injured, according to their statement on Facebook.

The statement said Al-Azhar was on the side of the Turkish people in the face of this tragic event.

On July 31, the Egyptian Foreign Ministry also sent a message of solidarity to Turkey, which is fighting the fires.

"Today, I extend my condolences for the loss of lives by the deadly wildfires in Turkey. Our solidarity and thoughts are with the people of Turkey and the firefighters battling the blazes," Sweden’s Foreign Minister Ann Linde said on Twitter.

"In an immediate response, the European Commission has already helped mobilize 1 Canadair plane from Croatia and 2 Canadairs from Spain. These firefighting aeroplanes are part of rescEU, the European reserve of civil protection assets," the European Commission said in a statement.

"The EU stands in full solidarity with Turkey at this very difficult time. I thank all the countries which have offered help," said EU Commissioner for Crisis Management Janez Lenarcic, adding they stand ready to provide further assistance.

Qatar has sent a team to Turkey to take part in search and rescue activities amid the forest fires, local media reported Sunday.

According to Qatar’s state news agency QNA, a team from the Qatar International Search and Rescue Group of the Qatari Internal Security Forces departed for Turkey at the instruction of Qatar's Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani.

Croatia will send a firefighting plane to Turkey as part of the fight against the fires, Croatian Foreign Minister Gordan Grlic Radman said on Twitter

Turkish Agriculture and Forestry Minister Bekir Pakdemirli has said the 119 of 126 fires across 32 cities that erupted since Wednesday have been contained. In a statement, he said efforts are underway to bring the remaining blazes under control.

At least eight people have lost their lives in the fires in addition material damage.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan visited areas affected by the forest fires, saying 50 million Turkish liras ($5.91 million) have been released to meet urgent needs./aa

A total of 122 wildfires out of 129 in Turkey have been brought under control, the country's communications director said early Monday.

"Of the 129 fires in 35 provinces, 122 have been contained," Fahrettin Altun said on Twitter.

He added that all the means of the state have been mobilized to combat the blazes, which have been plaguing the country since Wednesday.

Efforts to contain the other seven are ongoing.

Blazes broke out in at least 35 provinces, including several on Turkey’s Mediterranean coast, killing at least eight people.

As many as 271 other people have been affected, according to the Disaster and Emergency Management Authority (AFAD).

Turkish authorities are maintaining tireless efforts to put out the fires through both aerial and ground operations. Firefighters, including a group of 100 Azerbaijani firemen, are at work along with locals./aa

The number of people who have lost their lives due to massive forest fires in southern Turkey has risen to eight, the country’s agriculture and forestry minister announced Sunday.

After examining the affected areas of Mugla from a helicopter, Bekir Pakdemirli said they have completed 75% of the damage assessment work in the province and that four planes and 17 helicopters are still busy with dowsing efforts.

Pakdemirli said on Twitter that 119 of 126 fires across 32 cities that erupted since Wednesday are under control.

A total of 16 aircraft, nine drones, 45 helicopters, six management helicopters, one unmanned helicopter, 708 water tankers and water sprinklers and 120 construction machines have been used to put out the wildfires, the minister said, adding some 4,800 personnel are active in the region.

Earlier, Health Minister Fahrettin Koca said on Twitter that 497 of the 507 people affected by the fire in Manavgat district of Antalya have been discharged from hospitals.

Similarly, he added, 186 of the 203 people struck by wildfires in Mugla's Marmaris and Bodrum districts have also been treated.

Turkish authorities are maintaining their tireless efforts to put out the forest fires through both aerial and ground operations. Firefighters, including a group of 100 Azerbaijani firemen, along with locals are at work./agencies

Turkey’s Foreign Ministry on Sunday issued a diplomatic note to Greece over the killing of a Turkish citizen in the northwestern Edirne province by fire from the Greek side of the border.

Heleni Vakali, Greece's charge d'affairs in Ankara, was summoned to the ministry and given a diplomatic note, with Turkey's reaction to the death of the Turkish citizen as a result of Greek fire from through the border on Saturday night, according to diplomatic sources.

Vakali was informed that Turkey demands to receive information about the outcome of an investigation by Greece into the incident, the killer or killers to be arrested and punished, and measures to be taken to prevent its repetition, while compensation rights of the victims of the incident and their families are being reserved, the sources added.

A Turkish citizen was killed on Saturday night in Adasarhanli village of Edirne's Meric district due to fire from the Greek side of the border.

Mehmet Durgun (43) and Suleyman Sener (60), two of the residents of the village, were by the side of the Meric River, which forms the borderline with Greece, when Mehmet Durgun was shot in the face and died at the scene./aa

Seven PKK terrorists have been neutralized in Turkey’s ongoing operations in northern Iraq, the National Defense Ministry said on Sunday.

The terrorists were neutralized at different locations during Turkey’s Pence operations in the region, the ministry said in a statement.

“Our operations will continue until the last terrorist is neutralized!” the ministry added.

The Pence operations are a series of offensives Turkey has carried out since 2019 against terrorist organizations in northern Iraq, particularly the PKK.

The latest are the Pence-Simsek and Pence-Yildirim operations, launched by Ankara on April 23 in northern Iraq’s Metina and Avasin-Basyan regions near its borders.

The PKK terror group often hides out in northern Iraq, just across Turkey's southern border, to plot terror attacks in Turkey.

In its more than 35-year terror campaign against Turkey, the PKK – listed as a terrorist organization by Turkey, the US, and the EU – has been responsible for the deaths of at least 40,000 people, including women, children, and infants./aa

The number of COVID-19 vaccine shots administered worldwide crossed 4.14 billion as of Sunday, according to Our World in Data, a tracking website affiliated with Oxford University.

China, where the virus was first detected in late 2019, leads the count with more than 1.65 billion jabs given across the country, followed by India and the US with 461.52 million and 345.64 million, respectively.

Brazil has so far administered nearly 142.5 million vaccine shots, while the figure stands at 92.05 million in Germany.

Next on the list are the UK and Japan with 84.94 million and 84.01 million doses, respectively.

Turkey has administered over 73.3 million jabs and ranks eighth worldwide.

More than 41 million people have received their first doses in Turkey and 27.3 million have been fully vaccinated.

As COVID-19 vaccines are generally given in two separate doses per person, the count of administered vaccines does not mean that the same number of people have been vaccinated.

According to Our World in Data’s figures, the number of COVID-19 cases around the world is now just short of 198 million, including a death toll of 4.22 million./aa

As families of children forcibly recruited and abducted by the PKK terror group continue their sit-in protest in the southeastern Diyarbakir province of Turkey, they call on their disappeared ones to surrender to security forces.

Families have been camping for 699 days outside the Diyarbakir offices of the opposition Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP), a party the Turkish government says has links with the PKK.

Mother Aynur Panay is among the protesters, and she joined the sit-in to bring back her son Emrah, who, she said, was abducted by the terror group at the age of 13 in the Dogubeyazit district of eastern Agri province.

“My son was tricked by the HDP, handed over to the PKK. … I want my son back,” he said, adding that the recent reunion of three mothers with their children was a source of joy for her and other protesting families.

“For God’s sake, come back, surrender to gendarmerie, police (forces). I have been longing for you for a decade. I’ve missed you so much,” she said.

Another protester, Abdullah Demir, said he is staging the sit-in for his son Fatih, who was abducted by the PKK.

“I've not abandoned my son for five years. I will be looking for him till my last breath,” he said.

In its more than 35-year terror campaign against Turkey, the PKK – listed as a terrorist group by Turkey, the US, and the EU – has been responsible for the deaths of at least 40,000 people, including women, children, and infants./aa