{"id":26789,"date":"2020-09-30T01:36:07","date_gmt":"2020-09-30T01:36:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/uncategorized\/2020\/09\/30\/pompeo-says-uss-hershel-woody-williams-will-be-based-at-souda-bay\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T19:28:06","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T19:28:06","slug":"pompeo-says-uss-hershel-woody-williams-will-be-based-at-souda-bay","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/news\/your-navy\/2020\/09\/30\/pompeo-says-uss-hershel-woody-williams-will-be-based-at-souda-bay\/","title":{"rendered":"Pompeo says USS Hershel \u2018Woody\u2019 Williams will be based at Souda Bay"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

ATHENS, Greece \u2014 U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo expressed support Tuesday for talks between Greece and Turkey, NATO allies whose relations deteriorated to the point where both had warships facing off in the Mediterranean Sea.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

His comments, however, angered Ankara, where a senior official accused Pompeo of not being impartial on the second day of a five-day regional tour.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Speaking from the Souda Bay military base on the Greek island of Crete, Pompeo said relations between the United States and Greece are \u201cat an all-time high and getting stronger.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Greece has been looking to the U.S. and the European Union for support in its dispute with neighboring Turkey, which it accuses of encroaching on its sovereign rights in the eastern Mediterranean. EU leaders are set to discuss this week potential sanctions against Turkey, which is not a bloc member.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Turkey last month sent a research vessel, accompanied by warships, to prospect for energy resources in an area where Greece claims exclusive rights. Athens also sent warships to the area and put its armed forces on alert. The dispute led to fears of open conflict.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The tensions at sea eased recently, with Athens and Ankara announcing they would hold exploratory talks on relaunching stalled negotiations. Technical discussions on a military level also took place at NATO to prevent a military accident.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In Turkey, a senior ruling party official said Pompeo had \u201clost his impartiality\u201d in the dispute by visiting Greece two times in a month and ignoring Turkish Cypriots during a visit to Cyprus.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYou cannot serve peace in the region by visiting only the Greek side on the island (of Cyprus), by paying two visits to Greece, and by making one-sided statements of support,\u201d Omer Celik, the spokesman for President Recep Tayyip Erdogan\u2019s ruling party, told reporters. \u201cWe believe that there is a need for a return to a balanced policy.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Amid the tensions with Turkey, Greece has announced major arms purchases, including fighter jets from France, as well as warships, helicopters and weapons systems.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI was pleased to see that Mr. Pompeo shares our positions, understanding that tension between two members of NATO ultimately is not in anyone\u2019s interest,\u201d Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis said after talks with Pompeo.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After taking a step back in regional issues, the U.S. began to become more involved in the Mediterranean in 2018, said Michael Tanchum at the Austrian Institute for European and Security Policy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe U.S. was proceeding cautiously, balancing interests in various areas of the region ranging from Syria, Cyprus to Libya,\u201d Tanchum said. \u201c(But) events in the eastern Mediterranean are forcing Washington to accelerate the pace at which it deepens its involvement.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"US
US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo delivers a speech during his visit at the Naval Support Activity base at Souda, on the Greek island of Crete, Tuesday, Sept. 29, 2020. Pompeo visited a U.S. naval base at Souda Bay on the southern Greek island of Crete Tuesday, ahead of a meeting with Greece’s prime minister on the second day of his trip to the country. (Aris Messinis\/Pool viaAP)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Pompeo visited Athens last October and signed an agreement with Greece that provided for increasing joint U.S.-Greece and NATO activity at three locations in Greece, as well as infrastructure and other improvements at Souda Bay.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Pompeo and Mitsotakis announced Tuesday that the USS Hershel \u201cWoody\u201d Williams, the second of a new class of sea-basing ships, will be based out of Souda Bay.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt\u2019s literally the perfect choice in light of the facility\u2019s strategic location. And it\u2019s symbolic of a defense partnership that will continue to expand and to grow,\u201d Pompeo said.<\/p>\n\n\n\t