Türkiye says Ankara, Athens should not wait for another quake to mend fences

By Merve Aydogan

ANKARA (AA) – Türkiye and Greece should not wait for another earthquake to mend the fences, the Turkish foreign minister said on Sunday.

Addressing reporters with his Greek counterpart Nikos Dendias in the quake-hit Hatay province in southern Türkiye, Mevlut Cavusoglu hailed Greece’s support in the wake of devastating earthquakes earlier this week.

"The fact that Nikos Dendias is here with us today shows the solidarity of the Greek people with Türkiye and the Turkish nation," Cavusoglu said. "Good neighborly relations is seen during such challenging times."

He recalled the 1999 Marmara earthquake in Türkiye and said Greece also experienced earthquakes then only a month after Türkiye.

"At that time, first Greece rushed to help us, then Türkiye rushed to help Greece," Cavusoglu said, as he cited a news story from news magazine Time then.

Cavusoglu had sent a letter to Time as an ordinary Turkish citizen regarding the story on Türkiye-Greece relations. "Solidarity at difficult ties is important but we must not wait for another earthquake to develop relations," he had said.

"I, then, said that as a simple Turkish citizen. Today, as Türkiye's Minister of Foreign Affairs, I share the same opinion," he affirmed.

Cavusoglu urged "sincere" dialogue to overcome differences in opinions.

The Turkish foreign minister also expressed gratitude to Dendias, his government and all Greek people for the "support given during such difficult times."

For his part, Dendias pledged continued support by Greece to earthquake-hit Türkiye.

"We (Greece) will continue to do our best to overcome difficult times (in Türkiye), both at the bilateral and EU level," he said.

The Greek top diplomat also echoed Cavusoglu, saying the two countries should not wait for another earthquake to improve relations.

Dendias is the second foreign minister to visit Türkiye in the wake of the twin powerful quakes.

The 7.7 and 7.6 magnitude quakes, centered in Kahramanmaras, affected more than 13 million people across 10 provinces, including Hatay, Gaziantep, Adana, Adiyaman, Diyarbakir, Kilis, Malatya, Osmaniye, and Sanliurfa.

Several countries in the region, including Syria and Lebanon, felt the strong tremors that struck the country in the space of less than 10 hours.