Kuwait moving up again on Turkey's BFF list
Kuwait and Turkey are increasing their military and economic ties as Kuwait looks for relationships beyond the troubled Gulf Cooperation Council and Ankara stands to benefit from the oil-rich country's growing military and infrastructure budgets.
Turkey and Kuwait have rapidly been expanding their relations over the past few years. But 2017 has been remarkable by all accounts, with a new record in high-level visits between the two countries.
In March, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan received Emir of Kuwait Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah in Ankara. Six months later, Kuwaiti Prime Minister Sheikh Jaber Al-Mubarak Al-Hamad Al-Sabah visited Turkey with an exceptionally high-level delegation. The visit was fruitful, and the two parties signed six accords and agreements covering areas of cooperation in double taxation, small- and medium-sized enterprises, civil aviation, telecommunication and information technology, security and youth issues.
In addition to many Turkish ministers who visited Kuwait in 2017, Erdogan visited there in May and July, and just this week on Nov. 14, bringing the number of meetings between him and the Kuwaiti emir to six in two years.
Before Turkey and Qatar upgraded their relations to a strategic level in the past few years, Kuwait was Turkey’s best friend in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC). Affiliations are shifting once again.
