The severe fires that broke out near the best Turkish resorts have been actively covered by the world media over the past few days. For many, this information is more important than the news from the Olympic Games or data on the latest cases of coronavirus. First of all, the sad events concern potential home buyers in Turkey and those who already have property in the resorts of this country.

How serious is the disaster?

On the territory of Turkey, forests have burned in previous years. But whereas earlier natural disasters unfolded far from popular tourist areas, now the fire has crept dangerously close to them. It is impossible to fight a fire on your own, your main hope is in the firefighters. The critical situation is aggravated by the strong winds.

To fight the fire, the Turkish authorities mobilized all available forces: several dozen aircraft are involved, over 830 ground units of fire extinguishing equipment, and more than 150 workers and construction vehicles. Additionally, the army, the navy, the gendarmerie, and thousands of firefighters are working on the issue.

Which resorts were affected

The most famous resort areas mentioned in the media are Bodrum and Marmaris. The last one required the evacuation of guests from several hotels near which a fire was raging last weekend. As of now, tourists have already been able to return to their rooms.

Significant fires have also been raging in Manavgat since the middle of last week. This resort town is not located on the sea coast, but inland between Antalya and Alanya. The small settlement became famous primarily not for its luxurious hotels, but for its picturesque waterfalls, which tourists from all over the world come to see.

On the territory of Manavgat, the fire was raging in full: the flames threatened many residential areas, and the villages located nearby were completely burnt to the ground. Four or five casualties have been reported from various sources. As for the largest resorts, Antalya and Alanya, luckily, they have not been reached by the fire.

What happened to property

Since deadly fires broke out tens of kilometers from the sea, mostly the houses of Turkish farmers were affected. Foreigners rarely buy real estate in such places — as a result, their property remained intact. However, let us not forget that many in Turkey own holiday homes far from the coast.

How to protect your property in the event of fire; should you do it?

It is impossible to protect personal housing during natural disasters with fire-fighting methods. Perhaps the safest option is to take out insurance on your existing property. At the same time, it is important to take into account that the acquired basic policy will provide protection only against earthquakes — in Turkey they are considered the most dangerous disaster.

If an owner wants to get insurance for their home that will cover a wider range of events, then it is necessary to resort to the services of private insurance companies. The cost of the basic policy will depend on the area where ​​the house/apartment is located — the price for a year will be several hundred liras.

Fortunately, the situation in Turkey, judging by the latest news, has begun to stabilize. As of August 3, 117 out of the 125 detected forest fires have been extinguished. No problems are observed in such large resorts as Kemer, Alanya, Bodrum, Antalya, Belek, Sid, Marmaris and Didim.