The Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) sent a letter of condolences to Syriza following the forest fires in Greece.

The letter was signed by Deputy Co-chair for Ecology and Izmir MP Murat Çepni and said, “As the forests and all the living beings in them, your loved ones, your homes, your gardens and orchards in the lands you live in, burn in the Rafina and Kineta regions, our hearts burn with them. We know this pain, we feel it, we recognize it.”

Çepni continued: “In the 1990’s, in 2015, as villages and forests were burned to the ground in all corners of Anatolia, and as we watched the flames in Rhodes from across the water, we felt the same pain. The lives lost in Rafina and Kineta, Athens, in Neos Voutzas and Nea Makri are our lives, as well as the forests and all living beings within. We do not recognize the borders or the divisions between us. We are with you. We are ready to mend your wounds, to protect your natural environment and to do whatever we can in solidarity.”

At least 82 people lost their lives in the forest fires in the Attica region in Greece. The government announced that they are in possession of “serious factors” suggesting that the fires could be a sabotage and launched investigations.