The catastrophe of the devastating earthquake that struck southern Turkey last week brought about a remarkable change in its relations with Greece, as the territorial waters that lie at the heart of the two countries' decades-old conflicts turned into channels for expressing solidarity.

Greek volunteers rushed to Turkey to help search for survivors under the rubble, following the earthquake, which has left more than 35,000 dead to date, as well as heavy property losses.

These volunteers sailed to Turkey through territorial waters in the Aegean Sea, which has been a constant source of maritime tensions between Ankara and Athens.

According to a report by the Turkish Anatolia News Agency, 35 members of the Greek search and rescue teams are currently working in the Turkish state of Kahramanmaraş, since they arrived last Saturday night on a 30-hour flight from Athens.

Greek aid on its way to the affected areas in Turkey (Reuters)

welcome

The group of volunteers includes 11 women, including a doctor, and they brought with them a dog specialized in research, medicines, an ambulance, 7 other vehicles, and a large amount of equipment and search and rescue tools, and the Turkish authorities facilitated for them to cross the sea across the island of Lesbos.

The volunteers boarded a boat from the port of Mytilene on the island of Lesbos, and the first message the team received upon its arrival in Turkey was, "Welcome, brothers," according to one of the volunteers in the team.

Team volunteer Kostas Tsakunas described the situation in Kahramanmaraş, the epicenter of the earthquake, as horrific, which made many team members shed tears.

Greeks are among more than 9,400 search and rescue teams from 77 countries.


A changing climate

The territorial waters between Turkey and Greece have often witnessed tensions over maritime sovereignty, in addition to Athens constantly returning irregular migrants to Turkey, but the tragedy of the earthquake changed the climate of relations between the two countries.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan received a phone call from Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis, during which the latter expressed his condolences for the earthquake victims and stressed his country's solidarity with Turkey.

And last Sunday, Greek Foreign Minister Nikos Dendias was the first high-ranking European diplomat to make a solidarity visit to Turkey, and he inspected the destruction in Hatay state, accompanied by his Turkish counterpart Mevlut Cavusoglu.

Dendias said that Turkey and Greece should not wait for another earthquake to remove the walls between them, while Cavusoglu stressed that the visit of his Greek counterpart is important for the relations of the two countries.

The Turkish Foreign Minister said that there could be problems between the two countries, "and there are problems that we could not solve with Greece, and sometimes we witness tension in relations, but we have become two countries that meet in difficult times."

He pointed out that in 1999 an earthquake occurred in Turkey and then Greece, a difference of about a month, indicating that the two countries rushed at that time to help each other.

Cavusoglu indicated that he wrote in the American Time magazine a letter in which he said, "It is important that we help each other in difficult times, but we do not have to wait for another earthquake and another disaster to develop our relations," stressing that he still adopts this view.


previous tensions

The Aegean region witnessed tensions between Ankara and Athens regarding the areas of maritime jurisdiction, and Ankara previously made an offer to negotiate in order to reach fair solutions to issues related to the regions of the eastern Mediterranean and the Aegean Sea.

In addition to aid and Greek search and rescue teams, search and rescue teams from dozens of countries rushed to participate in the search for survivors under the rubble in 10 affected states.

According to Turkish Disaster and Emergency Management (AFAD) data, the number of international workers and volunteers in the affected areas is 35,249 search and rescue workers, including international teams, among 249,89 workers from official and unofficial institutions and agencies.