President Erdoğan performs Friday prayer in Istanbul<

 

President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan performed Friday prayer at Çilehane Mosque in Istanbul.

Following the prayer, the President answered reporters’ questions.

“196 OF THE 208 FOREST FIRES IN 44 PROVINCES HAVE ALREADY BEEN TAKEN UNDER CONTROL”

Regarding the forest fires in various cities across the country, President Erdoğan said: “196 of the 208 forest fires in 44 provinces have already been taken under control. Efforts are underway to bring under control the 12 ongoing fires in 5 provinces, namely Antalya, Muğla, Isparta, Aydın and Denizli. Intensive firefighting efforts are being exerted in these provinces.”

Underlining that all the means and resources have been mobilized to put out the fires, President Erdoğan noted that over 600 well-trained firefighters from Azerbaijan also take part in the firefighting.

Drawing attention to the international air support for Turkey’s fight against the ongoing forest fires, President Erdoğan said that Russia had dispatched five tanker planes and three helicopters, Ukraine three tanker planes and four helicopters, Spain two amphibious planes, Croatia one amphibious plane, Iran one tanker plane and two helicopters, and Azerbaijan one more amphibious plane and one helicopter.

“TURKEY IS A POWERFUL COUNTRY THAT RUSHES TO THE AID OF THOSE IN NEED”

In answer to a question about the ongoing disinformation campaigns, which were described as a matter of national security in the statement that was released yesterday following the National Security Council meeting, President Erdoğan stated that the so-called ‘Help Turkey’ campaign launched in recent days on social media platforms was aimed at portraying Turkey as a poor country. “Turkey, which provides refuge for 4 million refugees, most of whom are Arabs and Kurds, cannot be a weak country. It is capable of providing refuge for people because it is a powerful country. And it does so through its own means. It does so through successful financial management. We will continue to take similar steps in the future as well through successful financial management, about which we have no hesitations. That is so because Turkey is a powerful country that rushes to the aid of those in need.”