Turkey and Greece have a centuries-long feud that has come close to war. But when earthquakes hit, they still come to each other's aid.

A woman sits on the rubble as emergency rescue teams search for people under the remains of destroyed buildings in Nurdagi, southern Turkey, on February 7, 2023.

AP Photo/Khalil Hamra

• Greece and Turkey have decades of animosity, repeatedly moving towards the brink of war.
• But when they suffer natural disasters, the foes can briefly become allies.
• Turkey is currently dealing with the aftermath of a devastating earthquake, and Greece is helping.

Mediterranean neighbors Turkey and Greece have repeatedly clashed in a centuries-long feud over territory, sometimes coming to the brink of war.

But the devastation now being seen in Turkey is the latest example of how disasters in the region alter the countries' relationship.

Turkey is currently reeling from a devastating earthquake that hit it and Syria on Monday. As of Friday, the death toll was over 21,000, and expected to rise further.

Emergency teams search for people in the rubble of a destroyed building in Adana, southern Turkey, on February 7, 2023.

AP Photo/Hussein Malla

Countries around the world are providing aid, including rescuers, field hospitals, and supplies.

And Greece is among them, sending 80 tonnes of equipment, including thousands of tents, beds and blankets, as well as rescuers to help the efforts.

The crisis led Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotaki and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan to have their first phone call in nine months, after Erdogan severed diplomatic relations between the two countries in May 2022.

"From now on there is no one called Mitsotakis in my book" and "I will never accept meeting him," Erdogan said last year.

But in their call this week, he thanked Mitsotakis for Greece's support.

Mitsotakis, meanwhile, has described it as Greece's duty to help.

He told CNN: "What is important to understand is that at the end of the day, we are neighbors and we need to help each other through difficult times."

The two countries have been on the brink of war three times in the past 50 years, The Associated Press reported.

Last December Greece's foreign ministry said that Turkey was making "repeated threats of war," as Turkey responded angrily to what it said was Greece militarizing the Aegean islands.

Destroyed buildings as seen from above in Antakya, southeastern Turkey, on February 9, 2023.

AP Photo/Hussein Malla, File

Mitsotakis himself noted that this change in relationship is one that happens between the countries when disaster strikes, even if tensions reemerge afterwards.

Both countries had earthquakes in 1999, and sent help to each other.

Nicholas Burns, the then-United States Ambassador to Greece, described what happened as "earthquake diplomacy" to The New York Times.

He said images on TV, which included Turkish rescuers recovering a Greek child, "had tremendous political symbolism."

Disputes over the Aegean islands, maritime borders, and military presences in Cyprus have led to decades of flare ups between the countries.

Greece was previously under the control of Turkey, leading to a bitter independence fight that ended with Greece gaining independence from the Ottoman Empire in 1830.

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