A video emerged on social media on Friday, lending support to allegations that Turkish soldiers deliberately sparked a fire in Mount Cudi (Çiyayê Cûdî), located in Turkey’s southeast. The Turkish Ministry of Forestry refutes any reports of a fire in the area.

The video, purportedly filmed by the soldiers themselves using a mobile phone, depicts one troop pointing towards Mount Cudi and the neighbouring Besta region, engulfed in flames, stating, “This is Besta’s final state. This is the Kurds.”
Another soldier is heard saying, “Operation accomplished.” However, the exact date of the video’s recording remains undisclosed.

In response to the growing concerns about the ongoing fire in the region, Nevroz Uysal, a Member of Parliament from the Green Left Party, revealed that during discussions with Ministry of Forestry officials regarding the issue, they were informed that no records of the fire existed.

Uysal emphasised that this incident marks at least the thirtieth fire in the area, causing extensive destruction to hectares of land. She stressed, “The alleged fire zone in Cudi falls within the ‘Special Security Zone,’ declared a military restricted area, causing heightened concern among the public and leaving no means for intervention.”

The forest fire that originated on Wednesday in the foothills of Mount Cudi continues to spread unchecked, with authorities allegedly preventing attempts to extinguish the blaze. The devastating fire has rapidly spread across a vast area between the Silopi (Silopî) and Cizre (Cizîr) districts of the Kurdish-majority Şırnak (Şirnex) province, with smoke billowing into the town of Silopi.

Despite the severity of the situation, there have been no official efforts to combat the inferno, and civilians have been barred from attempting to douse the flames. Local residents accuse Turkish military personnel of intentionally igniting the fire.