Turkey is grateful to Russia for its contribution to fighting the forest fires that engulfed the republic last summer, Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan made the statement on Wednesday during talks with Russian leader Vladimir Putin in Sochi.
"Thank you for your contribution to the fight against forest fires. Unfortunately, [in this fight] your and our citizens died heroically. We talked about this during our telephone conversations, but I would like to offer my condolences again. Friend in need is friend indeed," Erdogan said.
Be-200 planes were rented by Turkey from Russia for extinguishing large forest fires that started simultaneously in several resort regions of the republic on July 29. The number of victims of the natural disaster reached eight, more than 850 people were affected. Three Be-200 planes from the Russian Federation were used in this attempt to extinguish the fire. According to the lease terms, the aircraft were operated by Russian crews. Turkey currently lacks such equipment and its amphibian aircraft are not operable due to their technical condition and age.
The Be-200 amphibian aircraft of the Russian Navy crashed on August 14 in the southeast of Turkey. There were five Russian servicemen and three Turkish citizens on board and they were pointing the fire. All of them died. On August 15, the Russian president signed a decree awarding the deceased Russian pilots with the Order of Courage.
GSV "Russia - Islamic World"
Photo: Creative Commons
Based on materials from TASS