Wildfires force Turkey to shut Dardanelles Straits to shipping

Nearly 46,000 vessels crossed the Dardanelles in 2024, according to official data.

Strong winds fanned the wildfires, helping them spread in hot dry weather, local officials said. Efforts to extinguish the blazes from "both the air and ground" were ongoing, Canakkale's provincial governor - quoted in Turkiye Today - said on Friday.

Canakkale's main airport is closed to passenger flights, but firefighting and search and rescue aircraft are still operating from there.

Hundreds of wildfires have broken out across Turkey this summer, forcing tens of thousands of people to evacuate their homes.

In July, at least 10 forestry and rescue workers were killed while battling wildfires in the country's central Eskisehir province.