Fires have been raging across multiple areas of Türkiye. Photo: Supplied / @BekirKaracabeyOGM on Facebook
Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has warned of the possibility fires raging towards Gallipoli may reach the graves of Australian soldiers at Anzac Cove.
"Our thoughts today are also with our friends in Türkiye. We understand there are efforts underway to control fires that are burning on the Gallipoli Peninsula," Albanese said in a press conference on Friday.
"Gallipoli is, of course, sacred ground to both of our countries.
"Some 60,000 Australians served at Gallipoli during the eight-month campaign, and 8700 Australians lost their lives," he said, referring to the Gallipoli campaign of World War I.
"Eighteen thousand were wounded during the campaign. And there were more than 7200 Australians buried in cemeteries or listed as missing there.
"So our thoughts today are with those who continue to care for those cemeteries, and welcome thousands of Australians who visit Anzacheadstones each year, as they endure these difficult times."
About one in six New Zealanders who landed on the peninsula - 2779 people - also died.
Drone video posted by the Turkish news agency IHA showed much of the area had been scorched, with large swathes of blackened scrub visible.
IHA said the fire began near the village of Büyükanafarta on Thursday morning (local time) and grew with the wind, before spreading into the forest of the Gallipoli peninsula.
The flames had crossed Chunuk Bair and affected a wide part of the peninsula.
Video posted by 7 News appeared to show the Canterbury Cemetery, which contains the graves of 20 men from the New Zealand Mounted Rifles, burnt out.
Lone Pine Cemetery - the location of the Memorial to the Missing, which commemorates 4228 Australians and 753 New Zealanders who died at Gallipoli and have no known grave - was also within the fireground, 7 News reported.
New Zealand's embassy in Ankara is trying to gauge the impact of the wildfires on Anzac gravesites and memorials on Gallipoli.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade said in a statement it was monitoring the situation closely.
The Ankara embassy was in contact with the Commonwealth War Graves Commission to understand the impact, the ministry said.
Earlier, the general manager for Türkiye's Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry, Bekir Karacabey, said firefighters were managing the blaze.
"We are intervening non-stop from land and air with the guardians of #GreenHomeland to bring the forest fire in Eceabat, Çanakkale under control," Karacabey wrote in a Facebook post, referencing the area where Anzac Cove is located.
"Let's be careful to prevent other fires in these days when the risk of fire increases due to extraordinary weather conditions."
Fires have also sparked in other regions of Türkiye, with Karacabey reporting a "superhuman effort" to bring a blaze in Göynük - over 400 kilometres from Gallipoli - under control.
Minister of Agriculture and Forestry İbrahim Yumaklı said 1,413 firefighters - supported by 14 planes, 31 helicopters and 265 land vehicles - had been dispatched to control another fire in Manisa, 300 kilometres from the Gallipoli site.
- ABC / RNZ
