Viral Turkish Drone Footage Is Unrelated To Current Fires
The Claim
Visuals captured by a drone depict terrorists started the current fires in Turkey.
News posted on
Emerging story
A video circulating on social media claims the Turkey fires were an act of terrorism. The video depicts aerial drone footage, which supposedly shows evidence that the fires in the region were set off deliberately. Users called this an act of “war” and “sabotage” against Turkey. The video attracted thousands of users.
Misbar’s Analysis
MENA: We searched a still shot of the video through the reverse image search tool TinEye, and it unveiled that the date of the video’s first upload was August 2020, as can be seen below.
The video was published online and uploaded on YouTube on 9 August 2020, as shown below.
Given the findings, it is evident that the video is in no way related to the current, ongoing fires in Turkey. While much speculations attribute the fires to terrorism, trusted media and scientists say it is due to climate change. The fires were fuelled by a heatwave that rippled through the region, causing fires in Turkey, Italy, and Greece.
