In parallel with Turkey’s growing defense and security rapprochement with Russia, the United States is forging closer military bonds with Greece, heralding shifts in geostrategic balances in the Balkans, the Aegean Sea and the eastern Mediterranean. US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo paid a crucial visit to Greece, Turkey’s historical regional rival, Oct. 5-7 that paved the way for enhanced defense cooperation between the two countries. Pompeo and Greek Foreign Minister Nikos Dendias inked a protocol expanding the scope of the US-Greece Mutual Defense Cooperation Agreement, which relates to the use of Greek military facilities by US forces.
The amendment protocol, signed on an open-ended basis, lays the ground for the following: