Turkish firefighters join efforts to battle wildfires in Syria’s Latakia
DAMASCUS, Syria (North Press) – Turkish firefighting teams began participating in efforts to extinguish large-scale wildfires that have swept through rural areas of Syria’s Latakia Governorate, Raed al-Saleh, head of Syria’s Ministry of Emergency and Disaster Management said on Saturday.
In a statement, al-Saleh confirmed that a field meeting was held with the Turkish side in the border region of Yayladağı, adjacent to Jabal al-Turkman, to coordinate joint response operations to the ongoing forest fires.
The wildfires broke out on Friday, spreading from the Kessab area toward Jabal al-Turkman, threatening mountainous and forested communities near the Turkish-Syrian border.
Al-Saleh stated via the X platform that two Turkish firefighting helicopters, along with 11 vehicles—including eight fire trucks and three water tankers—joined the firefighting operations on Saturday morning.
Although the joint intervention was initially scheduled for Friday evening, unexpected wildfires on the Turkish side caused a delay in the deployment of Turkish teams.
He added that the coordination is taking place between the Syrian Ministry of Emergency and Disaster Management, the Syrian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and their Turkish counterparts to ensure operational readiness, real-time data sharing, and enhanced rapid response capabilities to protect residents in the border region.
The Syrian Civil Defense also reported that 62 personnel from its firefighting units and forest protection brigades are actively engaged in extinguishing the fires across multiple affected areas, including Qastal Maaf, Zanzouf, and Rabia, which have been burning since Thursday.