At an exceptionally critical juncture for the security of the wider region, Greece is preparing to receive US Secretary of State Marco Rubio in early October, at a moment when the US is «bleeding» in the Middle East and the American military footprint across the theater faces severe strain.
The visit is not expected to be merely ceremonial, as defense, energy security, and the strategic role of Greece are slated to take center stage during consultations. Furthermore, according to journalistic reporting, Rubio will be accompanied by officials from the US State Department.
Discussions are expected to center on the 6th Greece-US Strategic Dialogue, while the agenda is projected to feature Souda and Alexandroupoli, two critical hubs for American strategy in the theater, alongside the deepening of bilateral defense and energy cooperation.
All this unfolds while the US finds itself trapped in a challenging environment across the Middle East, with American bases sustaining impacts, requirements for air defense systems mounting, and operational shifts shaping a new regional security reality.
US-Turkey deliberations over the F-35
Moreover, the visit of the American Secretary of State to Athens will take place during a period when Greek-Turkish relations have drifted away from calm waters, while diplomatic maneuvering continues behind the scenes regarding Turkey's return to the American F-35 program.
Indeed, as revealed by US Department of Justice filings cited by Middle East Eye, the government of Turkey retained a lobbying firm in early August with close ties to US President Donald Trump, executing a 2.4 million dollar contract with Ballard Partners.
The firm is headed by Brian Ballard, a prominent Republican fundraiser from Florida who worked on Trump's presidential campaign.
The firm will receive 200,000 dollars per month.
Two figures affiliated with Ballard Partners illustrate its close ties to the Trump orbit: Susie Wiles, current White House Chief of Staff, and Pam Bondi, the former Attorney General, have both collaborated with the company.
According to US Department of Justice filings, the Ballard Partners team working on the Turkish account includes former Democratic Congressman from Florida Robert Wexler, noted for his pro-Turkish positions. In 2001, he co-founded the Congressional Caucus on US-Turkey Relations and Turkish Americans.
The team also includes Thomas Boodry, who served as special assistant to Trump and senior director for legislative affairs at the National Security Council until April 2025.
Thomas Boodry was removed from his post amid staffing reorganizations tied to the departure of then-US National Security Advisor Mike Waltz.
«I received a pledge from Trump regarding the F-35. I expect it to be honored», Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan declared recently.
Ankara had originally participated in the F-35 consortium and invested in the strike fighter's manufacturing chain, but was removed from the program in 2019 following its acquisition of the Russian S-400 air defense system.
Washington argued that the presence of the S-400 inside Turkey introduces severe security risks to the F-35 program, triggering American statutory sanctions.
The matter returned to the forefront over the summer, as Donald Trump appeared receptive to the possibility of reinstating Turkey into the program.
In July, Reuters reported that Trump was projected to back the potential sale of F-35 jets to Turkey, notwithstanding statutory and congressional hurdles that persist inside the US.
Yet days later, Trump noted that he had not finalized a definitive decision regarding the fighter transaction. According to an official letter from the US State Department to Congress, Turkey did not yet satisfy, as of July, the statutory preconditions mandated for re-entry into the F-35 program.
Turkey's latest «offensive» against Greece
Meanwhile, verbal assaults by Turkey against Greece persist unabated, with the demilitarization of the Greek Aegean islands remaining prominent across the Turkish agenda.
Following a narrative advanced in recent months, under which Athens and Nicosia are alleged to coordinate with Israel with the ultimate objective of encircling Turkey (invoking the «Sevres Syndrome»), Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan pointed to Greece as a country being «instrumentalized» by external actors engineering regional instability, pointing directly toward Tel Aviv.
«We do not want Greece to become an instrument for those who wish to destabilize the region and plunge it into chaos. We wish to maintain good neighborly relations», the Turkish Foreign Minister stated, emphasizing that Ankara has conveyed to Athens serious concerns regarding the militarization of specific islands.
As deepening Greek-Israeli strategic alignment generates sustained irritation across Ankara, Greek Foreign Ministry spokesperson Panagiotis Giannakoulias reiterated that sovereign foreign policy is charted independently without external direction, noting that assertions regarding «instrumentalization» bear zero relation to reality.
Within the Greek Foreign Ministry, officials do not overlook Ankara's persistent effort to invert the regional picture across the Eastern Mediterranean by conflating Greece with Israel, to which Turkish rhetoric explicitly assigns the label of a regional «terrorist state».
Escalating rhetoric further, Hakan Fidan characterized island defense postures as a «threat» targeting Turkey.
It is highlighted that the intensification of Turkish rhetoric against Greece accelerated notably following the conclusion of the Greek-Israeli agreement establishing the Achilles Shield, components of which will be deployed on Greek islands with an exclusively defensive mandate.
Redeployment of Turkish troops
Concurrently, reports across Turkish digital outlets and television channels document that the general staff of the Turkish Armed Forces redeployed a commando brigade to coastal sectors facing Samos.
The motivations of the Turkish leadership are attributed by defense analysts to the reinforcement of the Greek military presence across the Aegean Sea and the Eastern Mediterranean.
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