Turkish, Greek defense chiefs discuss earthquakes in Türkiye

By Diyar Guldogan

ANKARA (AA) - Turkish National Defense Minister Hulusi Akar and his Greek counterpart Nikolaos Panagiotopoulos on Thursday discussed last month's powerful earthquakes in Türkiye's southern region that claimed the lives of at least 46,104 people.

In a phone call, Panagiotopoulos reiterated his condolences for the earthquakes, the Turkish National Defense Ministry said in a statement.

Akar, for his part, thanked Panagiotopoulos for his condolence message and for the solidarity shown by Greece.

During the "constructive and positive" phone call, the ministers agreed to develop an agenda based on good neighborly relations between the two neighboring countries, according to the statement.

On Feb. 6, the magnitude 7.7 and 7.6 quakes struck 11 provinces — Adana, Adiyaman, Diyarbakir, Elazig, Hatay, Gaziantep, Kahramanmaras, Kilis, Malatya, Osmaniye, and Sanliurfa. More than 13.5 million people in Türkiye have been affected by the devastating quakes, as well as many others in northern Syria.

Condolences have poured in from around the world, expressing solidarity with Türkiye, with many countries sending rescue teams and aid, including Greece.