The fire that broke out in Besparmak (Pendadactylos) mountains on 27th June 1995 near Ilgaz village about 6 miles to the West of town of Kyrenia spread quickly with the help of the strong winds. As of early morning on 30th June the fire had reached far East of Kyrenia until the peak of Bufavento castle on East and Lapithos on West. Downtown Kyrenia was even endangered and parts of the town were evacuated - the Turkish mahalla and the state housing near the Milopetrez and Palidama apartments. Villages of Malatya, Ilgaz, Alsancak, Lapta (Lapithos), Edremit (Trimiti), Karaoglanoglu (Aya Yorgis), Karaman (Karmi), Bellapais, Catalkoy, Karakum (Karakoumi), Ozankoy, Dogankoy, Arapkoy, Berparmak (Trabeza), and Karaagac were evacuated. Lots of buildings, electricity system, and most unfortunately ten thousands of trees were destroyed.
This is one of the worst disasters Cyprus ever saw. The army, fire fighters of N. Cyprus, Turkey, UN, and British bases was unsuccessful in their efforts to control the fire until 30th, the fire was extinguished late at night. Unfortunately, Turkish Cypriot Government didn't accept the offer from South to provide extra help, eventhough it was obvious that the help was needed.
Years of lacking precautions against forest fires gave us the worst lesson. Tree cover of tens of years old is now replaced with a black ghostly soil, and thousands of dead tree skeletons. Citizens who lost their houses are suffering the worst disaster of their lives. The electricty and water system that is completely destroyed in the region is another problem. This is a disaster for ALL Cypriots.
Here are some pictures to show how huge the fire was. Both pictures show how the fire mainly in North of the mountains was seen from Nicosia (South of the Mountains!!)
There are three arrests of suspected terrorists who are believed to put up the fire and arrange it to spread so widely. There is a claim that the suspects are related to PKK, but that claim is not yet strongly based on anything other than similar cases in Turkey. Turkish president Suleyman Demirel visited the island to see the disaster area on 29th with a big group of important officials. On 30th ex-prime minister Bulent Ecevit is also arrived on the island. There is a decision for extra taxing, and bunch of different campaigns were started to raise funds for re-forestation of the region.
Hopefully the government will finally understand its mistakes and give more attention to the preservation of forests. What is destroyed can't be replaced in tens of years. We should understand that we can't save anything by putting up signs all around the place. Also the lack of the coordination of the fire department, and other related departments showed itself very well in this case!! Here are some more examples from the disaster...... Let's do our best to bring our island its 'Green' cover back!!
Link to Cyprus homepage prepared by Turgut Durduran