Turkey offers help to Greece after earthquake

By Serife Cetin

ANKARA (AA) – Expressing solidarity with Greece, Turkey’s foreign minister Wednesday offered help to his Greek counterpart after a strong earthquake rocked the country, according to diplomatic sources.

Speaking to Greek Foreign Minister Nikos Dendias by phone, Mevlut Cavusoglu said Turkey is ready to help Greece in case of need, added the sources, who asked not to be named due to restrictions on speaking to the media.

Cavusoglu made the phone call during his meeting with Georgian Foreign Minister David Zalkaliani, who is on an official visit to the capital Ankara, the sources added.

A 5.9 magnitude earthquake hit the northwest of the Greek city of Larissa just before 12.16 p.m. local time (1016GMT) on Wednesday.

The quake’s epicenter was northwest of Larissa, Greece’s fifth-most populous city, according to the Institute of Geodynamics in the capital Athens.

No injuries or damage have been reported from the region so far.

*Writing by Jeyhun Aliyev