Georgian leader thanks Baku for assistance in extinguishing forest fire

By Azernews

By Laman Ismayilova

Georgian President Giorgi Margvelashvili has expressed his gratitude to Azerbaijan and Turkey for their help to extinguish forest fires in the country.

The Georgian president told a briefing that Georgia mobilized all resources to eliminate the natural disaster, Azertac reported.

“The Georgian government also expresses its gratitude to Azerbaijan. The government of Georgia thanks the Azerbaijani side, particularly President Ilham Aliyev, for help," Azertac reported citing the Georgian Interior Ministry’s press service.

Azerbaijan`s Ministry of Emergency Situations sent a helicopter to Georgia on August 21 to help extinguish forest fires in Borjomi-Kharagauli Reserve under directions of President Aliyev.

The Ka-32A firefighting helicopter started exploration flights in Samtskhe-Javakheti region and joined the operation to tackle the fire at 06:40 local time on August 22.

Georgian firefighters are battling a forest fire spread across up to 500-hectares in the Adigeni district of the Samtskhe-Javakheti region, southern Georgia.

The fire broke out in the vicinity of the resort town of Abastumani in the Adigeni district overnight on August 15.