The so-called “earthquake diplomacy”which first reactivated after the successive earthquakes that hit both countries in the summer of 1999 and led to an improvement in Greek-Turkish relations, in a sense reactivated yesterday after deadly earthquake measuring 7.8 on the Richter scale. On Monday afternoon it became known that the Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis had a telephone conversation with the President of Turkey Tayyip Erdogan, expressing its sorrow over the devastating earthquake in Turkey and expressing the support and condolences of the government and the Greek people for the loss of life. At the same time, he reaffirmed Greece’s readiness to immediately provide all possible assistance to Turkey – and in addition to the team that has already left for the region – in the aftermath of the devastating earthquake. Mr. Erdogan thanked the Prime Minister for his support and immediate help.

TO President of the Republic Katerina Sakellaropoulou contacted the President of Turkey yesterdayexpressing condolences to the victims of the devastating earthquake.

Athens sent a team of 21 firefighters from the 1st EMAK to Turkey – They are accompanied by a PS engineer officer, five doctors and rescuers from EKAV, as well as Efthimios Lekkas.

Attempts to open the channels began on Monday morning. According to “K”, there was a conversation between the diplomatic adviser to the Prime Minister Annas-Maria Bura and the representative of Tayyip Erdogan, Ibrahim Kalin. According to the same sources, it was said between the two sides, in addition to wishing that there were as few casualties as possible in the tragedy, that the channels could remain open. The Prime Minister then published a publication publicly expressing his grief and immediately announced that aid was being sent to both Turkey and Syria. “Deeply saddened by the devastating earthquake in Turkey and Syria,” the prime minister wrote, adding: “We express our deepest condolences to the families of the victims, and our thoughts are with all the affected people. Greece will mobilize its resources and help immediately.” Shortly thereafter, it became known that a group of 21 firefighters from the 1st EMAK, with two rescue dogs and a special rescue vehicle, would leave in the coming hours as a relief mission to Turkey. The team is accompanied, according to the same information, by a fire department engineer officer with experience in supporting columns in the ruins of collapsed buildings, five medics and rescuers from EKAV, as well as the president of the SARA. Efthymyos Lekkas. The mission took off yesterday afternoon in a C-130 aircraft from Elefsina Airport.

Regarding the deadly earthquake, a telephone conversation also took place between the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Greece Nikos Dendias and his colleague Mevlut Cavusoglu. The Greek Foreign Minister informed his colleague that Greece was ready to provide humanitarian assistance to Turkey, and shortly after, he tweeted the following post: “I expressed my condolences to the grieving families. Greece is ready to immediately provide assistance in rescue work and in the elimination of damage,” the Minister of Foreign Affairs stressed, in turn adding a critical link in the chain of open channels. At the same time, Defense Minister N. Panagiotopoulos sent a letter to his colleague H. Akar.

The emerging new “earthquake diplomacy” is likely to even temporarily change the landscape of Greek-Turkish relations ahead of the elections. It is clear that Turkish revisionism will not be eliminated by a deadly earthquake, and there is no room for profound changes at the strategic level, but “a tragedy could bring a temporary setback in relations between the two sides,” the seasoned analyst tells K. , adding that at this time the likelihood of some kind of pre-election military incident is decreasing.