The visit of Nikos Dendias to the earthquake-stricken regions of Turkey resounded around the world, just a few days after the deadly earthquake that cost countless lives and turned entire cities into ruins.
However, what is being commented on extensively – mainly by Turkish media – is the warm embrace of the Greek Foreign Minister with his Turkish counterpart, Mevlut Cavusoglu, and their joint statements which may be the trigger for a new beginning in Greek-Turkish relations.
How the Turkish press commented on the Dendias visit
“Nikos Dendias in person in the affected areas of Turkey”, writes the Turkish newspaper Sabah and mentions that the Greek Foreign Minister became the first European foreign minister to visit Turkey after the deadly earthquake, thus showing the support of Greece in practise in the most difficult time for the neighboring country.
At the same time, the warm embrace between Dendias and Cavosoglou at the Adana airport (even commented on by the American ambassador to Turkey) is shown by almost all the Turkish media, underlining the great help of Greece and the contribution of the Greek Disaster Search and Rescue Team-EMAK in the efforts to locate human lives in the debris.
“We should not wait for an earthquake to improve bilateral relations”
Anadolu Agency’s post that the Greek foreign minister arrived in Turkey to visit the earthquake zone and then meet with Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu is accompanied by the news that the US ambassador to Ankara, Jeff Flake, posted “a sentence that it says it all, that this is great.”
It is noted that the Dendias-Cavosoglou flight over the disaster zone was extensively covered by the Turkish media, always with references to Athens “which is sending help but also to the Greek search and rescue teams participating in the work being carried out under the ruins”.
Finally, the newspaper Cumhuriyet quotes Mevlut Cavusoglu’s statement that “we will make efforts to resolve our differences through dialogue”. “Good neighbors can be seen in such difficult days”, said the Turkish Foreign Minister, adding that “we should not wait for an earthquake to improve bilateral relations”.
