Croatian Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic on Saturday extended his condolences to Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Greek PM Kyriakos Mitsotakis following a devastating earthquake which rocked their countries on Friday, the government said in a press release.

In his notes, Plenkovic said he “received the news of the devastating earthquake with great sadness,” extending his condolences to the high officials and the two peoples.

He said that Croatia was willing to offer Turkey and Greece all the necessary help based on its experience with the Zagreb earthquake in March.

“In these challenging times, in line with the proven friendship and cooperation between our two countries, you can count on Croatia’s strong support,” Plenkovic said in his note to Erdogan.

“We know very well how important support is in these horrible circumstances, and in Croatia you have a true friend,” he wrote to Mitsotakis.

The number of fatalities of the quake which struck near Izmir in western Turkey has risen to 27, the Turkish state news agency said today.