The American Hellenic Institute has called on the US Congress to strengthen strategic ties with Cyprus and Greece and condition any assistance to Turkey on its compliance with international law and NATO obligations, in written testimony to a House of Representatives subcommittee on the fiscal year 2027 budget.
AHI President Nick Larigakis argued that the United States should invest in reliable allies of strategic importance such as Greece and the Republic of Cyprus, which contribute substantively to American objectives in security, energy and foreign policy. The testimony calls for maintaining and strengthening funding for the International Military Education and Training programme, Foreign Military Financing and the European Recapitalisation Incentive Program, as well as continued support for UNFICYP, the UN peacekeeping force in Cyprus.
Larigakis highlighted the Eastern Mediterranean as a pivotal junction between Europe, Asia and Africa, shaped by the war in Ukraine, instability in the Middle East and threats to energy and maritime security. He described the 3+1 framework between the United States, Greece, the Republic of Cyprus and Israel as a key pillar of regional stability.
Greece is described in the testimony as one of the United States’ most reliable NATO allies, with the strategic importance of Souda Bay and the port of Alexandroupolis singled out alongside Greece’s contributions to military operations and energy projects strengthening European energy security. Cyprus is presented as an increasingly important US partner in security, education and energy, with specific reference to the CYCLOPS centre’s role in training for port and maritime threat response. The testimony also notes that approximately 40,000 Turkish troops remain on the island, which it describes as a permanent factor of instability.
The sharpest passages concern Turkey. Larigakis describes it as a destabilising force in the Eastern Mediterranean whose actions undermine US interests and NATO cohesion. Central to his criticism is Turkey’s acquisition and retention of the Russian S-400 air defence system, which he says raises serious security and interoperability concerns within the Alliance. The testimony also cites violations of Greek sovereignty, Turkey’s maintenance of the casus belli against Greece and continued provocations in Cyprus’s Exclusive Economic Zone.
Beyond the Eastern Mediterranean, the testimony criticises Turkey’s military interventions in Syria and Libya, its actions against Kurdish allies of the United States and its support for Hamas, which Washington designates as a terrorist organisation. On this basis, Larigakis argues that US assistance to Turkey must be conditional on full compliance with international law, NATO obligations and alignment with western strategy.
He concludes by calling on Congress to prioritise Greece and the Republic of Cyprus as countries that align with international law and consistently advance US strategic interests at what he describes as a particularly critical geopolitical moment.