Greek Foreign Minister Visits Turkey

On Sunday, Greek Foreign Minister Nikos Dendias visited Turkey, which is still suffering from the aftermath of the devastating Earthquake.

Dendias arrived in Turkey, and shortly, he paid a visit to some of the earthquake sites, accompanied by his Turkish counterpart Mevlut Cavusoglu.

The visit was part of a new round of “earthquake diplomacy” between the two escalated countries.

The latest round of earthquake diplomacy between both countries was in 1999, three years after they almost went to war over two islets in the Aegean Sea.

In August 1999, a 7.6 magnitude earthquake hit Turkey, leaving behind about 18,000 dead; the following month, a 6.0-magnitude earthquake hit Athens, killing 143 people.

In both incidents, the two countries assisted each other which eased the tensions between both. 

Cavusoglu recalled a letter that he sent to TIME magazine at the time.

“Back then, I said that we should not wait for another earthquake to improve our relations. I repeat this now, as Turkey’s foreign minister. We must make efforts to improve our relations."

On his side, Dendias responded: “I want to totally sign on on to what Mevlut said: that we should not wait for natural disasters to improve our relations,” Dendias said later.