The forest fires that started as a result of the Turkish army bombing the Roj River in the central Kutudere region of Dersim rage on. Volunteers who want to fight the forest fire that has raged on for days are being stopped by state forces.

A group of volunteers went to the area to put out the fire in the morning. They notified the Gökçek Outpost that they were going to the area, and the soldiers threatened the volunteers, telling them they are not safe.

“THEY ARE STOPPING OUR EFFORTS”

Environmental volunteer Haydar Çetinkaya said: “The whole world should know that the Dersim Roj River has been burning for 5 days. There has been zero intervention. They don’t let us intervene, citing security reasons. We wanted to go without permission, but we had to turn back due to concerns for our safety. We apologize to our people that we returned without fighting the fire.”

“THE LANDS ARE BEING DESTROYED, AUTHORITIES DECEIVE THE PUBLIC”

Çetinkaya added: “But I must say that this cannot go on. Legal obstacles must be removed and firefighting planes and helicopters must intervene at once. Whole lands are burning down, still some people go and deceive the public, saying there is no fire, it has been put out.”