The United States does not take sides within the scope of its security cooperation with its NATO allies Türkiye and Greece, the U.S. Ambassador to Ankara Jeff Flake said on Tuesday.
"I have been asked recently if there has been a shift in the U.S. security posture in the Aegean. The answer is no," Flake said on Twitter.
"Our security cooperation with our NATO allies Türkiye and Greece does not come from a position of partiality or imbalance towards any single partner," Flake added. "Our collective efforts are now focused on putting an end to Russia's brutal and unprovoked war in Ukraine."
Flake also hailed Türkiye's "valuable support, notably advancing food security and fostering dialogue between Ukraine and Russia."
"Our defense cooperation with Greece strengthens NATO's eastern flank in support of Ukraine and of our NATO Allies in Central and Eastern Europe," he added. "Our overriding objective, shared with our NATO Allies Türkiye and Greece, is peace, security, and stability throughout the region."
Flake's comments came after Turkish military drones last month recorded Greece's deployment of armored vehicles on demilitarized Aegean islands, in violation of international law. Video footage showed landing ships carrying military vehicles given by the U.S. to the islands of Lesbos and Samos.
Pointing to the island deployment and new U.S. bases in Greece, Turkish leaders have suggested there has been a shift in the traditionally balanced U.S. relationship with Türkiye and Greece to one instead closer to Athens.
Washington also recently decided to lift a decades-old arms embargo on the Greek Cypriot administration.
Last month, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said the U.S. sending armored vehicles to the demilitarized islands was unacceptable in an interview on broadcaster CNN Türk.
"Our expectation from the U.S. is not to involve Greece in wrong calculations and not to allow the manipulation of international public opinion," he said.
The president also denounced Washington's recent decision to lift an arms embargo on the Greek Cypriot administration, calling it "inexplicable in terms of content and timing."
"The U.S. does not act fairly regarding NATO member-states. Both Greece and Türkiye are NATO member states and Türkiye is in the top five in terms of its contributions to the bloc," Erdoğan added.
He stressed that there is no comparison between Türkiye and Greece's standing in NATO, and Washington cannot find another ally like Ankara.
Türkiye and Greece are at odds over a number of issues, including competing claims over jurisdiction in the Eastern Mediterranean, overlapping claims over their continental shelves, maritime boundaries, airspace, energy, the ethnically split island of Cyprus, the status of the islands in the Aegean Sea and migrants.
Ankara accuses Athens of illegally militarizing Greek islands in the Eastern Aegean and questions Greece’s sovereignty over them. There is also a dispute over the exploitation of mineral resources in the Aegean.
Since the beginning of 2022, Greek warplanes have violated Turkish airspace 256 times and harassed Turkish jets on 158 occasions. Greek coast guard boats have also violated Turkish territorial waters 33 times.
The most recent incidents to have spurred tensions include two Greek coast guard boats opening fire on a cargo ship in international waters, continued pushbacks by Greek elements recorded by Turkish UAVs and the harassment of Turkish fighter jets on a NATO mission by Greece’s Russian-made S-300s.
It was reported recently that Turkish jets on a reconnaissance mission, flying in international airspace, were harassed by a Greek defense system stationed on Crete.
Türkiye planned to submit to NATO and its allies the radar logs showing how a Greek S-300 air defense system harassed Turkish F-16 jets during a mission in international airspace, sources said. Türkiye has also lodged a protest and demanded an explanation and investigation from Greece into an incident that was "totally in violation of international laws."