Amid the outpouring of support and donations from Greece, a rare visit by Greek Foreign Minister Nikos Dendias to Türkiye points to a thaw in the stalled relations between the two neighbors. Greece’s prime minister said Thursday that the positive dialogue after the Feb. 6 earthquakes in southeastern Türkiye can serve as an opportunity to redefine relations with Ankara.
For Greece, standing with Türkiye and Syria was purely a humanitarian task that did not serve any foreign policy purposes, said Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis in an interview with public broadcaster ERT. Asked about the prospects for bilateral relations with Ankara, he said the "earthquakes could present an opportunity to redefine relations between Greece and Türkiye.” It also can allow redefining relations between Türkiye and the European Union as a whole, Mitsotakis noted, adding the ultimate decision will be made by the Turkish leadership.
He argued, however, that countries do not change their foreign policies overnight. Mitsotakis continued by maintaining that Türkiye would need strong European support to recover from the damage it endured because of the quakes. "And we want to do everything in our power to help the Turkish people and Türkiye get back on their feet. It is also for the benefit of our national interests," he added.
At least 38,044 people were killed by two strong earthquakes that jolted southern Türkiye on Feb. 6, the country's disaster agency said early Friday.
The magnitude 7.7 and 7.6 quakes were centered in Kahramanmaras and struck 10 other provinces, Adana, Adıyaman, Diyarbakır, Hatay, Gaziantep, Malatya, Kilis, Osmaniye, Elazığ and Şanlıurfa. Over 13 million people have been affected by the devastating quakes.
Dendias received a warm welcome when he arrived in Türkiye days after the earthquake and met his Turkish counterpart Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu, reiterating his country's support for the earthquake relief. Despite a history of rivalry with Türkiye that goes back centuries, Greece was among the first European countries to send rescue workers and humanitarian aid on Feb. 6, a few hours after the disaster.
Territorial and energy disputes have exacerbated regional rivalry. Still, the two neighbors, which lie on seismic fault lines, also have a tradition of helping each other in natural disasters.
The Greek government has sent 80 tons of medical and first aid equipment. Thousands of Greeks have responded to calls for aid to quake-hit Türkiye, reviving memories of how a spontaneous outpouring of help after a similar disaster in 1999 brought the neighbors together when they seemed to be on the brink of war.
