Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis has thanked Türkiye for aiding his country battle a series of raging wildfires.
"Our gratitude goes out to Türkiye for sending two firefighting planes and one helicopter to assist us in our fight against forest fires. Thank you Türkiye!," Mitsotakis said on Twitter Saturday.
The Greek Foreign Ministry also thanked Ankara for the assistance, saying: "Thank you #Türkiye for your readiness to provide firefighting support&assist #Greece in tackling severe wildfires."
Earlier Friday, Türkiye sent two amphibious firefighting aircraft and a firefighting helicopter to aid Greece.
"Under the instructions of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, 2 firefighting planes and 1 firefighting helicopter registered in the inventory of the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry General Directorate of Forestry and crews will be sent to Greece," the Turkish Communications Directorate said on Twitter Friday.
"Amphibious aircraft with effective maneuverability and a firefighting helicopter produced with indigenous and national resources will be used in Greece to respond to wildfires," it added.
The firefighting aircraft and helicopter arrived in Greece early Saturday.
Greece has been struggling with a series of raging wildfires since last Monday, with firefighting planes and personnel from several countries arriving to help put out the flames.
Along with Türkiye, France, Italy, Cyprus, Slovakia, Israel and Jordan are also supporting efforts with firefighting planes and helicopters, the Greek Civil Defense said.
The gesture will further ease tensions between the two neighbors and add momentum to the rapprochement agreed on by Mitsotakis and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan at the recent NATO summit in Lithuania.
It is worth mentioning that Greece and other neighboring countries rushed to Türkiye's aid after the devastating Feb. 6 twin earthquakes, which killed over 50,000 people in the southeastern part of the country.
