A wrong attribution in South Cyprus by the Saudi foreign minister

Saudi Arabia (SA) Foreign Minister al-Assaf visited the Greek Cypriot part of South Cyprus three days ago and met with his counterpart Christodoulides.

This is not a visit that can be brushed aside by saying "SA is an independent country, it makes whatever contact it wants with whichever country it wants, and establishes whatever relationship it wants." Both the particular positions of the two countries and what was said during this visit make it understood as a visit that directly targets Turkey and aims to send Turkey a message.

When I say the position of the two countries, first of all Turkey's relationship with the Greek Cypriot part of South Cyprus is clear. Turkey, as a guarantor country on the Island, defends the rights of the Turkish side. The Greek Cypriot side, with the unjust power and support it receives from AB, acts as if it were the sole rights holder on the island, and meanwhile seeks to share the underground resources in the Eastern Mediterranean with whomever it wishes, first of all Israel, in whatever way it wishes.

It is clear who has been inciting it by giving it this courage. Ultimately Turkey is conducting a struggle for rights in this area; it has no eye on anyone's land or anyone's rights. Cyprus's exclusive economic zone belongs to the whole island, and by ignoring the KKTC, the GKRY cannot behave as if it were the sole rights holder over this zone.

That SA now joins, with this visit, those egging on the GKRY in this audacity is quite strange, because there is no side of the matter that concerns SA; by its joining this equation there is nothing it will gain for the Greek Cypriot side, nor any harm it can inflict on Turkey. But by joining the equation in this way it is evidently concerned with making its side known, and the side it has taken will only make it lose a great deal and gain nothing.

The timing of the visit of Minister Assaf, the first Saudi Foreign Minister to visit South Cyprus, is of course quite meaningful in the context of these relations. Meanwhile, SA's first ambassador in South Cyprus, Khalid Muhammad Al Sharis, had also presented his letter of credence to GKRY Leader Nikos Anastasiades last week.

It was recorded that at the minister's meeting with his counterpart he explicitly used the expressions "Against Turkey's illegal activities in the Mediterranean, we stand with South Cyprus, one of our chief allies. We will increase our military cooperation."

SA currently has the distinction of being the term chair of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation. The previous term chair was Turkey, now it is SA. Of course this chairmanship, when SA's position as Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques is added to it, requires acting more responsibly together toward the issues of the Islamic world. Unfortunately the SA administration, in which we see no effort or search about what the issues of the Islamic world are and their solution, on the contrary does nothing other than make matters even more inextricable across the whole Islamic world.

In the broadcast on TRT Arabic to which I was invited to assess this situation, I said that, as one of the most important countries of the Islamic world, SA has behaviors that are expected of it and that are not expected. For example, I tried to explain that this move has no rationality compatible with SA's current position, with its historical responsibility, or with its greatness as a state.

These words of mine were shared by the channel in a Twitter message with a video attached. The message reached nearly a million viewers in a short time, and when I last looked nearly three thousand people had written comments beneath it. Nearly all of the comments attack in the same voice, as if taking instructions from a single channel.

How many of the messages reflect the official discourse? I have neither the chance nor the time nor the patience to sift through them all. When you look at a few of them, they are anyway all copies of each other. But it is understood that many of them see this visit as if it were a retort to Turkey, because of Turkey's policy over Qatar, Iran and the Khashoggi matter.

The approach that equates SA's rapprochement with Cyprus with Turkey's relationship with Qatar is of course a very sick approach, and an unfortunate approach that still does not see that Turkey wants what is good for everyone, even for SA. A military cooperation agreement that already existed between Qatar and Turkey required fulfilling the responsibility of protecting Qatar in the siege being waged against it. Turkey's relationship with Qatar was established long before its dispute with SA. Moreover, by doing this Turkey in fact saved SA too from falling into a great mistake. Unfortunately it is still not understood even at this stage. But sooner or later they too will understand.

In the Khashoggi matter, Turkey is demanding those responsible for a murder committed on its own territory. Turkey has neither the right nor the means to extend to anyone the justice required by this terrible murder, committed on its own territory before the eyes of the whole world. Nor does anyone have the right to expect this of Turkey.

Wherever its trail leads, to be in pursuit of finding those responsible in the most objective manner and bringing them before the judiciary is for Turkey not only a right but also a responsibility. Those who position Turkey as an adversary for fulfilling this responsibility gain nothing and lose a great deal. Justice always gives life, it does not kill, even if it is against ourselves or our relatives..

Especially in the context of all these relations, SA, which should be in search of improving the situation further, approaching South Cyprus as a retort over Qatar and the Khashoggi matter shows, above all, that it has set up even the retort wrongly. Such a retort has nothing to give the Greek Cypriots, nor anything to take from Turkey. What is left is only for SA's already worn-down position.