A subgroup of the Kurdistan Workers Party has claimed responsibility for the wildfires ravaging many parts of the Turkish Riviera.

The fires broke out around noon on 28th July at four different points in the district of Manavgat in the southern Turkish province of Antalya, a major centre of the local tourist industry.

The Children of Fire Initiative, a subgroup of the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), has reportedly claimed responsibility for starting the fires.

In a statement, the group said the fires were in response to “the fascist Turks who invaded and exploited our country, and pillaged our nature by burning it”.

The statement added that Turks “spewed blood, death and brutality on us Kurds, and supported the army, police and government of the colonial Turkish Republic.”

While local residents debated whether the multiple fires in Turkish resorts were arson attacks, the military reportedly bombed around 40 targets of the PKK group in northern Iraq.

President Erdogan also announced the arrest of a suspect accused of starting a fire in a local forest.

While visiting a local crisis centre, he said: “There is one detainee in Milas. If this is sabotage, we must punish those responsible.”

Turkey regards the PKK and its subgroup as terrorist organisations.

The battle against wildfires continues in Antalya’s Manavgat, Gundogmus, Musla, Marmaris, Koycegiz and Milas districts.

A nonstop effort put up by firefighters saw 57 fires brought under control, but at least 1,140 locations are still burning. Local residents are helping out by transporting water to affected sites in their own vehicles.

Erdogan said that several planes have been dispatched to battle the fires along with 38 helicopters, nine unmanned aerial vehicles, 680 water-supply vehicles, and around 4,000 personnel.