Greece’s foreign minister is the first among his European colleagues to visit quake-hit Turkey to survey the extent of the disaster caused by last week’s twin quakes there. His visit was greeted warmly – a sharp contrast to the tension and hostility that has gripped relations between NATO allies Greece and Turkey for years. Pundits speak of a thawing in relations and the start of so-called earthquake diplomacy. However, serious problems remain between the two countries.]]
The image took many Greeks and Turks by surprise … Foreign Affairs Minister Nikos Dendias stepping off the plane in Turkey only to be greeted by his Turkish counterpart, Mevlut Cavusoglou, with open arms, a huge hug, and a meaningful message.
"We should not have to wait for an earthquake or some sort of natural catastrophe to improve relations between us," he said.
Cavusoglou's remark was quickly echoed by the Greek foreign minister. But Dendias then went further, spelling out the extent of Greece’s willingness, as he put it, to assist its rival neighbor, a week after a set of powerful earthquakes flattened several cities, leaving tens of thousands of people dead and thousands homeless.
At the instruction of Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis, Dendias said, I come here to reassure Turkey that Greece will not only do its utmost to provide assistance on a bilateral level but also as a European Union member state.
That means support for EU crisis funding to Turkey — money that the government in Ankara and its President Recep Tayyip Erdogan desperately need in the wake of a financial crisis that has been gripping Turkey for months now.
Although NATO allies, Greece and Turkey have been at odds for decades over competing rights to the Aegean Sea that divides them. A similar set of deadly quakes in both countries in 1999 saw a spectacular turn in relations, allowing the two rivals to re-configure their testy ties.
Pundits and politicians now hope for a repeat show of earthquake diplomacy, as it was dubbed 20-plus years ago.
Since the deadly quakes last week, scores of Greek rescue teams have sped to assist in many recovery operations. A massive public outpouring of aid and sympathy has seen convoys of aid leaving Greece for Turkey daily. And Erdogan, the Turkish president who publicly swore last year to never speak to the Greek leader for urging the U.S. Congress to block the sale of F-16 warplanes to his country, is now taking his calls, accepting 80 metric tons of medical and first aid equipment.
Senior Greek officials tell VOA that the government is also preparing to send cruise ships to Turkey to help accommodate tens of thousands of people left homeless after the deadly shocks.
A break in the hostility gripping relations between Greece and Turkey for three years now would prove remarkable, pundits, politicians and military experts here say. But they also warn Mitsotakis and the government not to lose sight of what they call a problematic neighbor.
Retired Military Chief Konstantinos Ginis explains.
"The geopolitical conditions of 1999 are completely different than those today," he said. "Back then, the government was weaker … Erdogan was on the rise, posing as a sympathetic force to Europe and the West. But now, that is not the case. And with elections looming in Turkey, Erdogan remains unpredictable."
