Turkiye has evacuated more than fifty thousand residents from forty settlements in and around its western province of Izmir since wildfires triggered by soaring temperatures broke out on Sunday. Turkiye's Forestry Minister Ibrahim Yumakli told reporters that the blaze was fanned overnight by winds in Kuyucak and Doganbey areas of Izmir.

Video shared on social media shows firefighting helicopters dropping water on fires burning in Turkey's Izmir province on Monday (June 30). Reuters was able to independently verify the location with outline of the buildings, terrain and road layout that matched file and satellite imagery of the area.

Turkey is battling dozens of wildfires amid an early European heatwave, with strong winds fanning flames across multiple regions. In Izmir, wildfires forced the closure of Adnan Menderes Airport and led to mass evacuations,