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

ADDS MORE QUOTES BY TURKISH FOREIGN MINISTER CAVUSOGLU

By Merve Aydogan

ANKARA (AA) – Türkiye and Greece should not wait for another earthquake to mend 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 are seen during such challenging times."

He recalled the 1999 Marmara earthquake in Türkiye, saying Greece also faced quakes then, only a month after Türkiye.

"At that time, first Greece rushed to help us, then Türkiye rushed to help Greece," Cavusoglu said, citing a news story from Time magazine from a quarter-century ago.

Years before his tenure as government minister, Cavusoglu sent a letter to Time as an ordinary Turkish citizen on its story on Turkish-Greek 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 of opinion.

- ‘We have always supported each other in the face of disaster’

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

Cavusoglu also took reporters' questions on some of the differences between the Aegean neighbors.

"Our unresolved issues with Greece have been going on for a long time, tensions are rising from time to time, and dialogue is at the forefront from time to time as well. However, we have always been two states, nations, and neighbors running towards each other, especially in times of such disasters and grief," Cavusoglu said.

Asked about aid going into Syria, which for years has come into the country through just one border gate in Cilvegozu, Türkiye, Cavusoglu said: “The international community is sending aid to us, and also sending aid to people affected by the earthquake in Syria."

"While we, as Türkiye, heal our own wounds, it is our humanitarian duty to support the aid that will go to Syria and to ensure their passage," he affirmed.

Saying that the road going through the Cilvegozu border gate in Hatay, southern Türkiye into Syria is damaged, he added that there are two other border gates into Syria in the Kilis province, though they are currently unused.

Noting the two gates could especially be used to enter areas of Syria cleared of terrorists, he added, "We have told the UN and the international community that we can open and use these two doors (for aid into Syria)," and that the UN is considering this option.

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

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

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

Dendias is the second foreign minister to visit Türkiye in the wake of the twin powerful quakes, after Azerbaijan’s.

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.