ATHENS (AP) — Greek Foreign Minister Nikos Dendias visited the quake-hit areas of Turkey on Sunday, accompanied by his Turkish counterpart Mevlut Cavusoglu.
It is part of an “earthquake diplomacy” between the two neighbors, whose relations have at times been tense or even hostile. Something similar happened in 1999, three years after the two countries almost went to war over two uninhabited islands in the Aegean Sea.
In August 1999, a magnitude 7.6 earthquake struck Turkey, killing an estimated 18,000 people; The following month, a magnitude 6.0 earthquake struck the Greek capital, killing an estimated 143 people. In both cases, the two countries sent relief units to each other.
Cavusoglu recalled that back then, when he was a private citizen, he sent a letter to TIME magazine.
“I said then that we should not wait for another earthquake to improve our relations. I repeat it now, as Turkey’s foreign minister. We must make efforts to improve our relations,” Cavusoglu said.
“I want to fully ratify what Mevlut said: that we should not wait for natural disasters to improve our relations,” Dendias later said.
The two countries disagree about the search for natural resources in the Aegean Sea and the Mediterranean Sea. Turkey also accuses Greece of militarizing some Aegean islands, in violation of international treaties, a charge that Greece emphatically denies.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has frequently threatened Greece that Turkish troops “will come suddenly one night” and has indicated that Turkey’s new Tayfun missiles are capable of hitting Athens.
At least for the moment such rhetoric has been put to one side. Erdogan has spoken by phone with Greek President Katerina Sakellaropoulou and Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis, with whom he had vowed never to speak again. The two Greek officials called Erdogan to express their condolences for the quake victims and assure him that he has Greece’s backing.
