“Yurt-shaped” stadium in Kyrgyzstan to be largest sports venue in Central Asia
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Wildfires have closed Turkey’s Dardanelles Strait. Together with the Sea of Marmara and Bosporus Strait, the Dardanelles allow passage to maritime traffic sailing to and from the Black Sea.
The Turkish transport ministry said on August 8 that the major international waterway was shut as a precautionary measure as raging forest fires fanned by strong winds spread near the city of Canakkale, where a number of inhabitants were evacuated.
Ground-based firefighting operations, backed up by firefighting planes and helicopters, were under way.
Amid heatwaves that in late July saw the mercury climb to above the 50° Celsius “edge of survival” temperature in Turkey for the first time since records began, the country has battled hundreds of wildfires this summer, with thousands of people forced to evacuate their homes. On July 23, 10 forest workers and volunteer rescue personnel battling blazes in Turkey’s central Eskisehir province, who became "trapped inside a fire", lost their lives.
The Turkish Straits, made up of the Dardanelles and Bosporus, are a vital route for east-west commercial shipping. Almost 46,000 vessels crossed the Dardanelles in 2024, according to official Turkish data. The Black Sea is bounded by Turkey, Bulgaria, Romania, Ukraine, Russia and Georgia.
Canakkale's main airport was closed to passenger flights, local officials said.
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