Upon returning home from a relief mission in the southeastern Turkish province of Hatay following the deadly earthquakes, a group of Greek rescue workers had nothing but praises for local survivors who extended them a warm welcome.

"Despite the hardships they've had to endure, the Turkish people gave us a very friendly welcome and treated us like family," said one of the rescuers during a press conference on Tuesday.

Sokratis Doukas, a doctor with the rescue team, became emotional as he recounted his team’s first moments in Hatay.

While they were looking to liaise with local officials, a very young boy reached Doukas during the chaos and spontaneously offered him a box of biscuits, the doctor told reporters.

"He must have been 7 or 8 years old," Doukas said. "It may not sound like it’s anything big but, at that moment, it personally meant so much to me."

When the group had to take breaks, the people approached them to offer hot tea, biscuits, sweets and bread, the rescuer said. "When they learned we were Greeks, they opened their arms wide and embraced us."

He said they did what they would as neighbors.

"From our experience, we know that in a disaster, you first ask for help from your next-door neighbor and then from the rest of the wider neighborhood."

Deputy Foreign Minister Andreas Katsaniotis, who is in charge of coordinating Greek humanitarian aid to Türkiye, announced via Twitter that a truckload of aid collected by the Athens chapter of the Greek Scout Corps had left during the day for Türkiye and another batch of aid collected in the northern port city of Thessaloniki will depart on Feb. 17.

A ship loaded with 1,000 tons of food, medicine and at least 200 large bags of clothes will depart from the port city of Piraeus on Wednesday.

Despite a history of rivalry with Türkiye that goes back centuries, Greece was among the first European countries to send rescuers and humanitarian aid, only a few hours after the disaster last Monday.

The earthquakes also prompted the first contact between Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis and President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan in months the same day as Mitsotakis reiterated Athens’ support to the country, saying "now is the time to leave disputes aside."

A week into the aftermath, Greek Foreign Minister Nikos Dendias too made the first visit by a European minister to Türkiye following the earthquakes when he landed in Adana, one of the provinces affected by the tremors.

Greek volunteers rally

Indeed, hundreds of people have been mobilized in Europe to help affected people in Türkiye and Syria, where more than 40,000 people combined have been confirmed dead and tens of thousands injured so far.

Five planes with more than 7,500 blankets, 1,500 beds, and 500 tents that families could use were sent in the first days of the disaster in cooperation with the Turkish Embassy in Athens.

The nationwide appeal earned a massive response from Greeks who rushed to collect medicine, cans of food and other supplies for quake victims in Türkiye.

Several municipalities from all over Attica region and other parts of Greece have been gathering clothes, food, tents, heating radiators, and several other goods.

The municipality of Kifisia, a northern Athens suburb, stepped up for the population that was left homeless following the disaster.

"A horrifying tragedy in Türkiye and Syria. Thousands of dead and injured. Millions of people are without shelter or basic goods. The battle of the rescue teams to find life under the wreckage is agonizing. Every practical effort of support and solidarity is valuable" said the city's official website.

"We are by your side and we will do anything to help you," Katerina Karali, president of Social Welfare of the Kifisia Municipality, who is responsible for this action and organizing the initiative, told Anadolu Agency (AA). Karali spent hours and days sorting the items brought by citizens for quake victims.

"The municipality of Kifisia always helps in every call for humanitarian aid when there is a need. I am very moved by the huge response and love of our fellow citizens who flooded our office with things," she said.

Karali said people of all ages rushed to the office to bring food, clothes and many other items, once again proving that solidarity between the two nations still exists.

"Aegean is a sea that connects us, and not separate us," she said.

At least, 35,000 were killed and more than 100,000 others were injured in 10 provinces of Türkiye by Feb. 6 tremors, with over 5,000 deaths in Syria, making it the sixth most deadly natural disaster in this century, behind the 2005 earthquake that killed at least 73,000 in Pakistan.

More than 13 million people have been affected by earthquakes so far.

Despite local and international aid and rescuers pouring into the region, teams have been forced to concede defeat at numerous sites, given the size and severity of the devastation. Miracle rescues that have come days after the disaster, however, keep hopes alive for some still waiting for their loved ones to emerge from the wreckage.