Ankara, Feb 12 (IANS) Greek Foreign Minister Nikos Dendias visited Turkey on Sunday in a show of support as massive earthquakes hitting the country have left more than 24,000 killed.
“We will continue to do our best to overcome difficult times, both at bilateral and the level of the European Union,” Dendias said in a joint press statement with his Turkish counterpart Mevlut Cavusoglu in the quake-hit southern province of Hatay, Xinhua news agency reported.
The fact that Dendias is here today “shows the solidarity of the Greek government and people” with Turkey. Greece was one of the first countries to call and help Turkey after the earthquake occurred, Cavusoglu said.
The visit by the Greek foreign minister comes amid long-standing tensions between the two NATO states over territorial disputes.
Both Turkey and Greece lie on seismic fault lines and have suffered several major earthquakes in the past decades.
“It’s important to support each other in difficult times, but we don’t have to wait for an earthquake or other disaster to fix our relationships. I hope we will make efforts to resolve our differences through dialogue,” Cavusoglu said.
The Greek foreign minister agreed that the two countries do not need another earthquake to improve their relations.
On Monday, two deadly earthquakes measuring 7.7- and 7.6-magnitude struck 10 provinces in southern Turkey and the northern part of Syria.
–IANS
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