Turkiye sends planes to Greece to battle wildfires: defense minister

ISTANBUL - Turkiye has sent two planes to neighboring Greece to help battle wildfires, Turkish Defense Minister Yasar Guler said on Wednesday.

"Our Greek friends are currently fighting forest fires. We immediately sent two of our planes for support at the instruction of our president," Guler was quoted as saying by the state-run Anadolu news agency.

Guler also said he offer condolences to his Greek counterpart Nikos Dendias after two Greek air force pilots died in the battle to extinguish a forest fire.

The pilot and co-pilot of a firefighting plane died after their aircraft crashed on Tuesday while battling a forest fire on the Greek island of Evia, Greece's Defense Ministry said.

Firefighters have been battling over 500 wildfires that broke out across the country in the past two weeks amid scorching heatwaves, Greek government officials said on Monday.