Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether the Government has offered aid and assistance to the Turkish authorities to tackle wildfires in the Mediterranean and Aegean coastal regions.

At the outset of the wildfires we offered our sympathy and support to the Turkish Government. The Foreign Secretary and I were in direct contact with our Turkish counterparts, and our Embassy in Turkey held urgent discussions with Turkish disaster relief authorities. Although Turkey had sought fire-fighting aircraft, which regrettably we could not supply, we were able to offer other technical support and capacity building expertise. The Turkish Government appreciated our support but confirmed they no longer needed such assistance.