A new defense cooperation pact between the United States and Greece is a tool for Athens to feel safer, Greece's foreign minister said Tuesday.

Speaking to the Defense and Foreign Affairs Committee of Greece's parliament, Nikos Dendias said: "The Greece-U.S. Mutual Defense Cooperation Agreement is a tool to feel safe so that we can broaden our horizons, expand our perception of things and not return to phobic syndromes that weaken us instead of empowering us."

He added: "We believe in the need for opening up to the Balkans not to be a prisoner of Greek-Turkish disputes."

Touching on the Port of Alexandroupolis in northern Greece, Dendias argued that it is important for Greece to turn the port into an energy crossroads for the Balkans.

"We want the military presence of the U.S. Yes, we do not want the Alexandroupolis Port to be commercial," he said claiming that is exactly what bothered Turkey and President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.

Last October, Greece and the U.S. signed an extension of their bilateral Mutual Defense and Cooperation Agreement in Washington.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken said the renewal will allow the agreement to "indefinitely" remain in force and enables U.S. forces to train and operate from additional locations in Greece amid "urgent challenges that are facing both of our countries."

Greece wants to have the upper hand over Turkey, Defense Minister Hulusi Akar said last year while describing the recent Greek efforts of armament and defense cooperation as "futile."

"This is not an arms race, it is an arms show. They (Greece) try to achieve superiority over Turkey through arming up in their own way with the encouragement and provocations of certain countries. This is a futile effort," Akar said.

Greece has often been embroiled in tensions with neighboring Turkey over a range of issues, from competing claims over hydrocarbon resources in the Aegean Sea to the demilitarization of islands. Moreover, Greece's burgeoning arms program is designed to counter the protection of Turkish interests in the Eastern Mediterranean.

Turkish leaders have repeatedly stressed that Ankara favors resolving outstanding problems in the region through international law, good neighborly relations, dialogue and negotiations. Instead of opting to solve problems with Ankara through dialogue, Athens has, on several occasions, refused to sit at the negotiation table and opted to rally Brussels to take a tougher stance against Turkey.