Islands dispute between #Saudi Arabia and #Turkey

   The visit of the Cypriot president published by the newspaper "The Riyadh Post" cannot go unnoticed, as relations with Cyprus are always governed by attempts not to upset the Turkish ally.

However, this historic visit, expected to be in early January, represents a historic shift in relations between the two countries and cannot be separated from developments in the region.

     The Saudi-Turkish relations are witnessing a silent crisis due to Erdogan's remarks and actions. Observers watched the visit by the Turkish president to Sudan.

Observers noted the keenness of the guest president and his host to link the island close location to Saudi Arabia and its holy places, and the restoration of Turkey's role in the Red Sea. 

This makes the Saudi-Cypriot relations useful for curbing Turkey's ambitions in the region.

   This comes about a month after Cypriot President Nikos Anastasiadis accused Turkey of obstructing the solution of the Cyprus crisis. After the trilateral summit with the Egyptian president and the Greek prime minister, he stressed that Ankara is trying to put obstacles in the way of resolving the Cyprus crisis through insisting to put military units in Cyprus, is the reason for the failure of all the talks.

     The Turkish Cypriot crisis is rooted in the Turkish invasion of the island on 20 July 1974, citing its responsibilities under the London and Zurich Conventions of 1959-1960.The Turkish forces occupied 37 percent of the area of northern Cyprus and expelled its Greek inhabitants, so that the Turkish occupation of northern Cyprus remains an obstacle and crisis continued to this day.

The relations between Cyprus and Saudi Arabia have improved considerably in recent years, as confirmed by Cypriot Foreign Minister Ioannis Kasoulides at the end of last year, when he expressed the hope that the Saudi flag will fly over his country soon with the opening of a Saudi embassy in Nicosia.

Kasoulides also expressed hope that a similar embassy would be opened in the capital Riyadh. "This has been delayed despite diplomatic exchanges between the two countries for many years," Kasoulides said.