NEWS

Turkey offers Greece help fighting fires

Turkey offers Greece help fighting fires

Turkey has offered to send firefighting aircraft to neighboring Greece after twin wildfires tore through areas near Athens.

Turkey's foreign minister said Turkish airplanes and helicopters are on standby to aid Greece.

Mevlut Cavusoglu said his Greek counterpart Nikos Kotzias thanked him for the offer but said assistance was not currently needed.

Bekir Pakdemirli, Turkey's agriculture and forestry minister, in Ankara said the planes are “45 minutes away if there is a request and we are ready to intervene immediately.”

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan also expressed his condolences and said his country was ready to help.

At least 50 people have been killed and more than 100 injured in the fires. [AP]

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