The Minister of Agriculture and Forestry of Türkiye, İbrahim Yumaklı, in a tweet shared from his Twitter account, provided information about the crimes and penalties related to forest fires.
Drawing attention to the recent fires, Yumaklı stated the following:
"In the last 10 days, 203 forest fires have occurred in 40 provinces. It's not only trees that burn in each forest fire, but the entire ecosystem also vanishes. Let's not cause this crime to occur, and let's protect our green homeland together. Let's not forget that there are significant sanctions for those responsible for forest fires."
Bakan Yumaklı's infographic listed the following forest fire crimes and penalties:
-Causing a forest fire contrary to the duty of care and attention can lead to imprisonment from 3 to 10 years.
-Intentional arson of forests can result in imprisonment of no less than 10 years and a judicial fine ranging from 1000 days to 10,000 days.
-Setting forests on fire within the context of activities conducted by organizations against the state's security can result in life imprisonment and a judicial fine from 20,000 days to 25,000 days.
-Unauthorized lighting of fires outside permitted areas in the forest, leaving a fire unextinguished before leaving the site, throwing unextinguished cigarettes or substances that can cause fire in the forest, burning agricultural residues and similar vegetation within 4 kilometers from the forest, and within the boundaries of villages covered by Articles 31-32 of the Forest Law can lead to imprisonment from 1 to 3 years and a judicial fine.
In case of any death or injuries, additional penalties are also applied to these crimes.
