ATHENS – Greece is one of the first few countries to extend its support to Türkiye after the fatal earthquakes by sending rescue teams and humanitarian aid, Turkish Foreign Affairs Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu told Greek journalists, it was reported on Saturday.

In his statements, the Turkish minister noted that “my friend [Greek Foreign Affairs Minister] Nikos Dendias came to Hatay, where we saw how devastating the earthquake was across ten provinces – but especially so in Hatay. We thank all the Greek teams and out friends there, and all the countries for their support.”

“Greeks also really expressed their support and solidarity, we also saw the TV programs. In the past too we supported each other -I mean as neighbors, and we supported each other as people and states whenever we faced such crises, such disasters,” he noted.

Continuing, Çavuşoğlu noted that “yes, we had disagreements, we had pending issues from time to time, and unfortunately we had escalations too. But, as we discussed with Nikos Dendias, I think there should be a de-escalation and we should not wait for another disaster to work together, not only to normalize the relationship, but to solve some problems.”

Speaking about the background of the meeting between Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s advisor Ibrahim Kalin and Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis’ Diplomatic Office Director Anna-Maria Boura, Çavuşoğlu revealed that the Turkish side submitted a six-point proposal, which includes the continuation of exploratory talks, the discussion of confidence-building measures (CBMs) and the continuation of military talks within the NATO framework.

“We need to strengthen the positive agenda,” concluded the Turkish foreign affairs minister.