Despite rising tensions over Turkish provocations, Prime Minister and New Democracy leader Kyriakos Mitsotakis said Greece stands ready to help its neighbor deal with the damages from an earthquake that killed at least 22 people.
The 6.8-Richter quake was devastating and Mitsotakis said he had offered help to Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan even though anxiety has risen between them over Turkey claiming waters in the Aegean and East Mediterranean off Greece and Cyprus and making a deal with Libya dividing the seas.
Erdogan thanked Mitsotakis for his support and said Turkish authorities were still trying to assess the damage and loss of life while the Greek leader took to social media and gave his “wholehearted sympathy” to Erdogan and the Turkish people.
“Our search and rescue teams stand ready to assist,” Mitsotakis tweeted as Foreign Minister Nikos Dendias also called his Turkish counterpart, Mevlut Cavusoglu, to express sympathy and offer help despite bickering between the countries.
There were fears of aftershocks and with people thought buried under rubble from collapsed buildings in the dead of winter. At least five buildings in Elazig and 25 in Malatya province were destroyed, Environment and Urbanization Minister Murat Kurum said.
He added that hundreds of other structures were damaged and made unsafe with reports at least 1,103 were injured.
Speaking at a televised news conference near the epicenter of the quake in Elazig province, Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu said 18 people were killed in Elazig and four in neighboring Malatya.
Erdogan attended the funeral of a mother and son killed in the quake while visiting the hardest-hit areas. He warned people against repeating “negative” hearsay about the country being unprepared for earthquakes.
“Do not listen to rumors, do not listen to anyone’s negative, contrary propaganda, and know that we are your servants,” Erdogan said. It was followed by 398 aftershocks, the strongest of them with magnitudes 5.4 and 5.1, the disaster agency said.
Emergency workers and security forces distributed tents, beds, and blankets as overnight temperatures dropped below freezing in the affected areas. Mosques, schools, sports halls, and student dormitories were opened for hundreds who left their homes after the quake.
“The earthquake was very severe. We desperately ran out (of our home),” Emre Gocer told the state-run Anadolu news agency as he sheltered with his family at a sports hall in Sivrice. “We don’t have a safe place to stay right now.”
Erdogan visited Sirvice and the city of Elazig, the provincial capital located some 565 kilometers (350 miles) east of Ankara. The Turkish leader promised state support for those affected by the disaster. “We will not leave anyone in the open,” he said after the visit.
Read more at thenationalherald.com
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