Erdoğan offers his "condolences to all of Greece" after Samos earthquake

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has offered his "condolences to all of Greece" in the aftermath of the Samos earthquake that rocked Greece and Turkey earlier today.

In a tweet, Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis said that in a phone call he offered his condolences to Erdoğan for the victims of the earthquake in Turkey.

The earthquake rocked Smyrni (Σμύρνη, Turkish: İzmir) especially hard.

"I just called Recep Tayyip Erdoğan to offer my condolences for the tragic loss of life from the earthquake that struck both our countries. Whatever our differences, these are times when our people need to stand together," Mitsotakis wrote on Twitter.

In a retweet comment, Erdoğan offered his "condolences."

"Thank you, Mr. Prime Minister. I offer my condolences to all of Greece on behalf of myself and the Turkish people. Turkey, too, is always ready to help Greece heal its wounds. That two neighbors show solidarity in difficult times is more valuable than many things in life," Erdoğan said.

Before this exchange between the two leaders, Greek Foreign Minister Nikos Dendias and his Turkish counterpart Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu also offered friendly words, as reported by Greek City Times.

“After the earthquake that hit Samos and Smyrni, the Foreign Minister Nikos Dendias contacted his Turkish counterpart Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu and expressed the readiness of Greek government to send rescue personnel to Turkey immediately to help free trapped citizens,” the Greek Foreign Ministry announced in a tweet.

A powerful earthquake with its epicenter to the north of Samos and estimated to be 6.6 on the Richter scale rocked both Greece and Turkey earlier today.

There were two tragic deaths in Samos, while in Smyrni there have been at least 12 deaths and 438 injuries.

Although Samos was not as badly damaged as Smyrni, there were several collapses, including a church.