STORY: :: Wildfires kill two people in Turkey's western Izmir province as blazes rage for a seventh day

:: July 3, 2025

:: A little-known group claiming ties to Kurdish militants says it was behind dozens of arson attacks

:: Buca, Turkey

:: Some 50,000 people were temporarily evacuated earlier this week

New fires also broke out on Thursday in the southern resort province of Antalya and in forested areas near Istanbul, Turkey's largest city, Anadolu said. Authorities have managed to contain several of the blazes.

A group calling itself "Children of Fire" claimed responsibility for "tens of fires across six Turkish cities", according to a statement shared online.

The group, which is little known, says it is affiliated with the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), designated a terrorist group by Turkey, the United States and European Union.

The PKK, which said in May that it was ending a 40-year insurgency and disbanding, has not commented on the claim.