Ammon News - The European Union has sent three firefighting planes to help extinguish ongoing fires in Turkey, which have devastated the country’s southern coast, according to official sources.

A statement by the European Commission’s emergency response coordinator on Monday said that Turkey has activated the EU Civil Protection Mechanism, adding "responding immediately, the EU has rapidly mobilized 1 Canadair plane from Croatia and 2 Canadairs from Spain, as part of rescEU, the European reserve of civil protection assets.".

Welcoming the rapid deployment of rescEU assets, European Commissioner for Crisis Management Janez Lenarcic said: "The EU stands in full solidarity with Turkey at this very difficult time. We stand ready to provide further assistance."