The fire began on Saturday in the northwestern province of Canakkale, spreading quickly in the hills near the town of Gelibolu, on the shores of the busy shipping strait.
Overnight, some 250 residents were evacuated from five villages, with two more emptied on Sunday, Canakkale governor Omer Toraman wrote on X, without giving a total number of people affected.
"So far, the fire has not spread to the evacuated areas," he wrote, also saying that war cemeteries in the peninsula had "not been affected" by the blaze.
The province -- popular with tourists visiting the ancient ruins of Troy and the Gallipoli battleground where thousands of soldiers died in World War I -- had suffered "extremely severe drought" in the past year, he said.
Agriculture Minister Ibrahim Yumakli said on X that 12 planes and 18 helicopters were fighting the flames alongside 343 vehicles on the ground in an operation involving 1,300 people.
While the weather has been fairly normal for the time of year, much of northwestern Turkey has suffered strong winds in recent days, although they eased off on Sunday, meaning efforts to fight the blaze were "progressing more positively", he added.
Access to historical sites near the town of Eceabat were closed "due to the ongoing forest fire", the institution running war memorials said on X.
On Monday, more than 2,000 people fled another fire on the southern side of the strait, and last week a wildfire forced the suspension of shipping through the Dardanelles Strait, which links the Mediterranean with the Sea of Marmara and the Black Sea.
According to the European Forest Fire Information System (EFFIS) website, there have been 192 wildfires in Turkey this year, which have ravaged more than 110,373 hectares (273,000 acres) of land.
Experts say human-driven climate change is causing more frequent and more intense wildfires and other natural disasters, and have warned Turkey to take measures to tackle the problem.
Spain PM vows 'climate pact' on visit to fire-hit region
Madrid (AFP) Aug 17, 2025 -
Spain is entering its third week of heatwave alerts and firefighters are continuing to battle blazes in the northwest and west of the country, with army units deployed to help contain the flames.
France and Italy had earlier sent water bombers to an air base near Salamanca to help with the firefighting efforts.
"The government of Spain will work now so that in September we can have the bases of this national pact to mitigate and adapt to the climate emergency," said Prime Minister Sanchez during a visit to Ourense in the northwestern province of Galicia.
He said he wanted to do "everything possible and even more" to ensure victims of the fires returned to a normal life.
The northwest and west of the country have been hard-hit by the fires, particularly the regions of Castile and Leon, Galicia, Asturias and Extremadura.
Spain is expected to remain on heat alert until Monday, with the extreme temperatures having significantly increased the risk of wildfires.
Climate change caused by humans is increasing the intensity, duration and frequency of periods of extreme heat, which fuel forest fires.
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Forest and Wild Fires - News, Science and Technology
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