Greece thanks Türkiye for firefighting assistance amid raging wildfires

The Greek prime minister thanked Türkiye for assistance, as it has struggled with raging wildfires since Monday.

"Our gratitude goes out to Türkiye for sending two firefighting planes and one helicopter to assist us in our fight against forest fires. Thank you Türkiye!," Kyriakos Mitsotakis said on Twitter on Saturday.

Earlier, the Greek Foreign Ministry also thanked Ankara for the assistance, saying: "Thank you #Türkiye for your readiness to provide firefighting support&assist #Greece in tackling severe wildfires."

Two amphibious firefighting aircraft and a firefighting helicopter, that departed from Türkiye, arrived in Greece early Saturday.

Firefighters have tried to control the fire that broke out in the wider Athens area, gutting houses and forcing evacuations.

Aid amid inferno

“Under the instructions of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, 2 firefighting planes and 1 firefighting helicopter registered in the inventory of the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry, General Directorate of Forestry and crews will be sent to Greece," the Turkish Communications Directorate said on Twitter Friday.

"Amphibious aircraft with effective manoeuvrability and a firefighting helicopter produced with indigenous and national resources will be used in Greece to respond to wildfires," it added.

Greece has been struggling with raging wildfires since Monday, with firefighting planes from France and Italy arriving to help put out the flames that burned houses and destroyed the environment.