04.07.2025 15:56
A ceremony was held for bulldozer operator İbrahim Demir, who was martyred while intervening in a fire that broke out in a forested area in the Ödemiş district of İzmir. During the ceremony held for Demir, a father of three, his relatives shed tears, while the Governor of İzmir stated, "Our villagers and living beings owe their lives to him."
On July 2nd, a forest fire broke out in the Ödemiş district of İzmir, and a ceremony was held at the İzmir Regional Directorate of Forestry for the bulldozer operator İbrahim Demir (39), who was married and a father of two, and who came from Konya to İzmir to intervene in the fire and was martyred while on duty yesterday.
The ceremony was attended by İzmir Governor Süleyman Elban, General Director of Forestry (OGM) Bekir Karacabey, İzmir Regional Director of Forestry Mahmut Yılmaz, İzmir Provincial Gendarmerie Commander Major General Metin Düz, İzmir Provincial Police Chief Celal Sel, AK Party İzmir Member of Parliament Mahmut Atilla Kaya, and the colleagues of Martyr Demir. During the ceremony, the Quran was recited, and prayers were made.
TEARS FLOWED LIKE A RIVER The coffin of Martyr İbrahim Demir, wrapped in the Turkish flag, was brought to the garden of the İzmir Regional Directorate of Forestry in the Karşıyaka district on the shoulders of his colleagues. General Director of Forestry Bekir Karacabey consoled Demir's colleagues who were shedding tears during the arrival of the coffin.
"OUR FORESTS, OUR VILLAGERS, AND LIVING BEINGS OWE THEIR PEACE TO THEM" Speaking at the ceremony, İzmir Governor Süleyman Elban said, "This year, we have seen that our friends in the forestry organization forget what it means to sleep, eat, drink, and rest when they receive news about a forest fire, that they scare fear itself, and that they disregard the fire. One of those heroes was our late brother İbrahim. In that difficult fire area in Ödemiş; without blinking, without thinking of his life, he fought the fire from the moment he started until that hour without resting or sleeping in a fire that was fast, irregular, and truly had a very high risk. Their heroic struggle is what our forests, the villages within and around the forests, our villagers, and other living beings living there owe their lives and peace to. Behind this comfort and peace lies this superhuman effort, heroic struggle, and sacrifice. I wish we could tell their selfless struggle without losing martyrs or getting injured, but unfortunately, we are faced with these kinds of unexpected and unwanted results in this struggle. I pray to my Lord for all our forest martyrs, especially İbrahim, and for all the wounded veterans who have passed away in this process, for all our brothers who have sweated for days in this struggle, and for those who have passed away. I hope this martyr will be our last martyr. Because our forests and our Anatolian land have had enough of martyr's blood," he said.
"WE HAVE LOST 143 MARTYRS TO FOREST FIRES SO FAR" General Director of Forestry Bekir Karacabey also said in his speech:
"While fighting to extinguish the fire that fell on our green homeland, our hearts were burned by the loss of our brother İbrahim Demir, who unfortunately left us as a martyr. Perhaps many emotions can be expressed in words, but I do not know which word can express such pain. Our only consolation is that, according to our faith, those who lose their lives while working to earn their livelihood in a lawful way attain the rank of martyr. Those who lose their lives while fighting against forest fires in our country are martyrs. Our only consolation is that our brother has completed his duty in this world as a martyr. Each of us is in this life with a limited number of breaths, and one day this breath will run out. However, none of us knows where and when those breaths will run out. What remains for us is to take care of our brother's family, relatives, and children, who are entrusted to us. We hope that our brother İbrahim will be our last martyr in the fight against forest fires. Unfortunately, we have bid farewell to 143 of our friends in this way until today. I pray to my Lord for all our martyrs who lost their lives while fighting to protect our green homeland, especially for our brother İbrahim. May He grant us the opportunity to give our last breath as a martyr when that moment comes for us," he said.
After the ceremony, İbrahim Demir's body was sent to his hometown Konya by helicopter belonging to the Forestry Directorate. It was reported that Demir's body would be buried after the funeral prayer to be held at the martyrdom in the Ilgın district of Konya.