August 02, 2008	Saturday	Rajab 29, 1429

ISTANBUL: Turkish fire fighters backed by a dozen aircraft struggled on Friday to extinguish fires engulfing woodlands in the coastal tourism province of Antalya and threatening sites of ancient culture, authorities said.

The fires could destroy up to 4,000 hectares of woodlands in Antalya if they are not contained, they said. No deaths or injuries have been reported, but television images showed destroyed houses and fleeing villagers. Flames were approaching an ancient Greek amphitheatre in Aspendos, 37 km from the Mediterranean resort of Side, Antalya Forest Directorate spokesman Aydogan Turedi said.

Antalya has some of the richest remains of Greek civilisation in Turkey and is the nation’s top tourist destination receiving about 7 million tourists each year, mostly during the summer period.

“There are some tourist areas that are four to five kilometres (miles) away from the fire, but we don’t think they are in danger,” said Turedi, adding that winds were blowing in the direction of other resort areas. “The starting point of the fire was just near a stream which tourists use for rafting,” he said.

Five villages had been evacuated and four of them were seriously damaged by the fires, spurred on by heavy winds.

The cause of the fires was not immediately known.—Reuters