ATHENS: Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis on Monday telephoned Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan offering "immediate assistance" after a deadly earthquake that killed over 2,500 people in Turkey and Syria.

Erdogan thanked Mitsotakis for the support and the immediate dispatch of rescuers and supplies on a C-130 military plane, the Greek prime minister's office said.

The head of Greece's quake protection agency will accompany the mission, a Greek government spokesman said.

The powerful earthquake struck Turkey and Syria, levelling buildings and causing tremors felt as far away as Greenland.

World powers rush to offer Turkey, Syria aid over quake

Erdogan in past months has repeatedly threatened Greece with invasion in an escalating war of words over territorial rights and hydrocarbon exploration in the Aegean Sea.

In October, Mitsotakis and Erdogan got into a spat at a European leaders' summit in Prague.

Earlier Mitsotakis pledged to make "every force available" to aid historical rival Turkey after it was hit by the 7.8-magnitude earthquake.

He said Ankara had approved the dispatch of a Greek emergency rescue squad, adding that Athens was ready to send "additional equipment, medical supplies, blankets, tents" depending on further Turkish requests.

Despite decades of animosity and recent tension over migration and hydrocarbon exploration, Greece and Turkey have a long history of helping each other in earthquakes.

The countries cooperated on recovery efforts in 2020 after a strong earthquake struck in the Aegean Sea, killing scores and causing vast damage mainly in Turkey.

They also worked together in 1999 when both countries were struck by deadly earthquakes less than a month apart.