The Dardanelles Strait has been temporarily shut to maritime traffic due to forest fires raging in north-western Turkey, the country’s transport ministry has said.
The major international waterway was shut as a precautionary measure, it said, as the blazes spread near the city of Canakkale, where a number of residents have been evacuated.
Turkish firefighters have been deployed to try to contain the fires. Specialist firefighting planes and helicopters are also in use.
The Dardanelles links the Aegean Sea to the Sea of Marmara. Together with the Bosporus Strait, it serves as a vital route for commercial shipping between Europe and Asia.
Nearly 46,000 vessels crossed the Dardanelles in 2024, according to official data.
Local officials said strong winds and hot dry weather was intensifying the wildfires. Efforts to extinguish the fires from “both the air and ground” were ongoing, Canakkale’s provincial governor – quoted in Turkiye Today – said on Friday.
Canakkale’s main airport is closed to passenger flights, but firefighting and search and rescue aircraft are still operating from there.
