Beyond the hyperbolic headlines

Over the last several years, July has been a key month for advancing a pro-Hellenic legislative agenda in the United States Congress. Given the August recess, July is extraordinarily busy as both houses of Congress try to pass their versions of two annual "must pass" bills - the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) and the Appropriations Act. In 2018 an NDAA amendment halting F-35 sales to Turkey advanced at this time. In 2019, we saw an NDAA amendment lifting the arms embargo on Cyprus and an appropriations amendment incorporating the Eastern Mediterranean Security and Energy Partnership Act. In 2021, the US-Greece Defense and Interparliamentary Partnership Act became law via an NDAA amendment. And last year, there was the amendment conditioning F-16 sales to Turkey on Ankara ending its belligerence in the Aegean (although this amendment did not become law, the policy debate...