As their relations deteriorate, disasters may physically keep Türkiye and Greece closer, a geology expert claims. Burhan Daş, who heads the Chamber of Geology Engineers in Elazığ, an eastern Turkish province that was rocked by a deadly earthquake in 2020, says Türkiye "slides to the west toward Greece, between 20 and 30 centimeters (8 and 12 inches) every year due to earthquakes."

Türkiye saw some 17,000 earthquakes in the past 10 months, a significant number, he also pointed out.

Most of Türkiye is located on the Anatolian tectonic plate, which sits between two major plates, the Eurasian and African, and a minor one, the Arabian. As the larger African and Arabian plates shift Türkiye is being literally squeezed, while the Eurasian plate impedes any northward movement. Thus, the country sits on several fault lines.

"The activity of the Arabian plate causes a push on the Anatolian plate, further to the west. In hundreds of thousands of years, the Aegean Sea may disappear forever," he told Ihlas News Agency (IHA) on Wednesday. "We will be land neighbors on the Aegean," he added. "Before that, new islands will likely emerge as a result of earthquakes," he said.

"Türkiye has about 22,000 earthquakes every year. As geology engineers, we warn the public not to build in places with fault lines," Daş also said.