Turkiye, Kuwait deals signal rise of ‘nonaligned axis’ in region

Special Turkiye, Kuwait deals signal rise of ‘nonaligned axis’ in region
Turkiye’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan meets with Kuwait’s Emir Sheikh Meshal Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah in Ankara, Turkiye, May 7, 2024. (Reuters)
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Updated 09 May 2024
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Turkiye, Kuwait deals signal rise of ‘nonaligned axis’ in region

Turkiye, Kuwait deals signal rise of ‘nonaligned axis’ in region
  • Partnerships with Gulf countries ‘are win-win moves economically, politically’ for Ankara, analyst tells Arab News
  • Visit is significant as it is Sheikh Meshal’s first to a non-Arab country since taking office in December

ANKARA: Turkiye and Kuwait recently strengthened their bilateral relations by signing six cooperation agreements in the fields of defense, trade, energy, tourism, health and diplomacy during Kuwaiti Emir Sheikh Meshal Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah’s visit to Ankara, where he was received by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in a grand state ceremony.

These agreements, including a protocol on defense procurement and a memorandum of understanding on strategic dialogue, followed discussions between the leaders and their delegations.

The visit is significant as it is Sheikh Meshal’s first to a non-Arab country since taking office in December, and coincides with the 60th anniversary of diplomatic relations between Turkiye and Kuwait.

Eyup Ersoy, a visiting fellow in the Department of International Relations at the London School of Economics and Political Science, said that the progress in bilateral relations is bound to have an impact on regional politics.

“There is a recently revived Turkish interest in developing its relations with the states of the region which are keen to adopt a neutral position in the polarized regional geopolitics. Accordingly, there seems to be a cluster of countries in the Middle East that are trying to stay out of the entanglements of regional geopolitics,” he told Arab News.

“With the consolidation of Turkish-Kuwaiti relations, this nonaligned axis is expected to establish itself as a third alternative in the polarized region. In this regard, the signing of a strategic dialogue agreement signifies the commitment of the two states to align their regional policies.” 

According to Turkiye’s Ambassador to Kuwait, Tuba Nur Sonmez, who spoke to Kuwait’s state news agency KUNA, the visit included discussions on bilateral relations and regional issues such as the Israel-Hamas conflict.

Both countries aim to increase their trade volume to $1 billion from $688 million last year, with Turkish exports to Kuwait exceeding $583 million last year. In addition, Kuwait sealed a $367 million deal with Turkish drone manufacturer Baykar to buy TB2 armed drones in 2023.

According to Ersoy, the defense industry supply agreement signed during the visit indicates a mutual interest in advancing defense industry cooperation between the two states.

“The content of the actual transactions will be determined by the Kuwaiti leadership’s assessment of Kuwait’s defense industry needs and the extent to which Turkiye could supply relevant defense industry products,” he said.

However, Ersoy said that trade volume between the two countries is not high compared with their other trading partners. 

“For example, in 2022, Turkiye ranked 19th among Kuwait’s export destinations, while Kuwait ranked only 56th for Turkish exports,” he said.

“Therefore, both sides are keen to strengthen their trade relations, as indicated by the statement during the visit on the need to revitalize the Joint Economic Commission.

“In addition, Kuwait’s leadership is seeking to diversify its economy in line with its Vision 2035 strategy, as its revenues are almost entirely based on the export of hydrocarbons. Increased trade with Turkiye has the potential to contribute to this ambitious macroeconomic goal,” Ersoy said.

Kuwaiti direct investment flow in Turkiye, which stood at $2 billion last year, has also continued, reaching $1.5 billion so far this year.

“More Kuwaiti participation in the Turkish economy, especially through direct and portfolio investment, is imminent,” said Ersoy. 

Kuwait is also expected to take steps to reduce its trade imbalance with Turkiye, he added.

In the tourism sector, Istanbul broke a 10-year record last year with a surge of Gulf tourists visiting the city. Trabzon, Bodrum, and Izmir are other top destinations for Kuwaiti tourists visiting Turkiye during the summer.

However, Arab visitors have been the targets of sporadic attacks amid anti-Arab sentiment in Turkiye. Last year, a Kuwaiti tourist was attacked in the northern city of Trabzon. 

Betul Dogan Akkas, an assistant professor of international relations at Ankara University, said bilateral relations between Turkiye and Kuwait were based on mutual respect and trust, stemming from a historical and diplomatic legacy.

“There is capital in these relations to promote cooperation, especially in the economic sphere, including the defense industry,” she told Arab News.

“Kuwait is open to consolidating its trade, and for Ankara, partnerships with Gulf countries are win-win moves both economically and politically.

 “The key aspect in analyzing these relations is the current willingness of both sides to build long-term goals. So far, we have seen mostly reactionary or short-term economic and political moves,“ Dogan Akkas said.

“Now is the right time for relations to institutionalize diplomatic capital. This requires leadership support, and both parties have it, as the emir of Kuwait visited Turkiye as his first non-Arab trip.”

Dogan Akkas also believes that the level of success and structure of political decision-making are crucial to strengthening relations.

She said that Turkiye’s ambassador to Kuwait is using her position to “achieve a comprehensive and well-structured long-term goal.”

Another question about this visit is the significance of its timing.

Ersoy believes that the Turkish president’s recent visit to Iraq appears to have eased a source of tension in Gulf politics by demonstrating Ankara’s willingness to cultivate more constructive and cordial relations with a critical neighbor of Kuwait.

“Turkiye’s receptiveness to regional political dialogue and economic prosperity has shaped the Kuwaiti leadership’s assessments in strengthening Kuwait’s ties with Turkiye,” he said. 

Kuwait recently showed unease at being left out of the development road project linking Iraq to Turkiye and the Gulf states. During Erdogan’s recent visit to Iraq, Ankara secured the signing of a quadrilateral memorandum of understanding between Iraq, Qatar, the UAE, and Turkiye.

However, the project, which will significantly boost regional transport, will be launched from Iraq’s Faw port, adjacent to Kuwait’s Mubarek port, whose delayed completion has been criticized in Kuwait.

But there was no mention of this unease during the visit to Ankara.

In addition, Ersoy said, national security imperatives appear to have contributed to the recent visit. 

“Kuwait’s neutrality in the regional struggle does not guarantee immunity from coercive diplomacy or punitive strategies in a militarized and highly volatile region,” he said.

“Therefore, exploring and building a security partnership with Turkiye appears prudent for the Kuwaiti leadership, which is another reason for the recent high-level visit.”

In this context, Dogan Akkas underlined the importance of the regionalizing their cooperation.

“If Kuwait and Turkiye take their cooperation to a regional or subregional level, as leaders in certain regional affairs, the political capital will be properly implemented,” she said.


US defense chief holds first call with new Israeli counterpart

US defense chief holds first call with new Israeli counterpart
Updated 9 sec ago
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US defense chief holds first call with new Israeli counterpart

US defense chief holds first call with new Israeli counterpart
Katz was sworn in before parliament the previous day
The US defense chief also discussed “the need to improve the dire humanitarian conditions in Gaza“

WASHINGTON: US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin discussed Lebanon and Gaza on Friday in his first call with his new Israeli counterpart Israel Katz, the Pentagon said.
Katz was sworn in before parliament the previous day, after his predecessor’s shock dismissal by the prime minister over a breakdown in trust during the war in Gaza — a conflict that began with a devastating Hamas attack against Israel on October 7, 2023.
Austin “held an introductory call today with the new Israeli minister of defense, Israel Katz, and congratulated him on his recent appointment,” Pentagon spokesman Major General Pat Ryder said in a statement.
He told Katz that Washington is committed to a deal that allows Lebanese and Israeli citizens displaced by more than a year of cross-border violence to return to their homes, as well as to the return of hostages seized by Palestinian militant group Hamas, Ryder said.
The US defense chief also discussed “the need to improve the dire humanitarian conditions in Gaza,” after he and Secretary of State Antony Blinken told Israel in a letter earlier this month that it needed to allow more aid into the small war-wracked coastal territory.

Palestinian leader tells Trump ready to work for Gaza peace

Updated 1 min 27 sec ago
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Palestinian leader tells Trump ready to work for Gaza peace

Palestinian leader tells Trump ready to work for Gaza peace
RAMALLAH: Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas expressed readiness to work toward a “just and comprehensive peace” in Gaza during a phone call with US President-elect Donald Trump on Friday, his office said.
Trump’s victory came with the Middle East in turmoil after the outbreak of the Gaza war in October 2023, triggered by the unprecedented attack on Israel by Palestinian militant group Hamas.
Congratulating Trump on his victory, Abbas expressed “readiness to work with President Trump to achieve a just and comprehensive peace based on international legitimacy,” his office said in a statement.
It said that Trump also assured Abbas that he will work to end the war.
“President Trump stressed that he will work to stop the war, and his readiness to work with president Abbas and the concerned parties in the region and the world to make peace in the region.”
While Trump struck a note of peace during his campaign, he also touted his status as Israel’s strongest ally, even going so far as to promise Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu he would “finish the job” against Hamas in Gaza.

Lebanon says three dead in Israel strikes on Tyre

Lebanon says three dead in Israel strikes on Tyre
Updated 51 min 14 sec ago
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Lebanon says three dead in Israel strikes on Tyre

Lebanon says three dead in Israel strikes on Tyre
  • The strikes targeted three buildings in the city
  • Israel had issued no evacuation warning ahead of the strikes

BEIRUT: The Lebanese health ministry said at least three people were killed and 30 others wounded on Friday in Israeli strikes on the southern city of Tyre.
The official National News Agency said the strikes targeted three buildings in the city and caused heavy damage to neighboring apartment blocks.
It said Israel had issued no evacuation warning ahead of the strikes.
Israel has been at war with Lebanese militant group Hezbollah since late September, when it broadened its focus from fighting Hamas in the Gaza Strip to securing its northern border, even as the Gaza war continues.
Hezbollah began low intensity strikes on Israel in support of Hamas following its Palestinian ally’s October 7, 2023 attack on Israel which triggered the Gaza war.


‘Strong likelihood’ famine imminent in north Gaza, say food security experts

‘Strong likelihood’ famine imminent in north Gaza, say food security experts
Updated 08 November 2024
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‘Strong likelihood’ famine imminent in north Gaza, say food security experts

‘Strong likelihood’ famine imminent in north Gaza, say food security experts
  • The warning comes just days ahead of a US deadline for Israel to improve the humanitarian situation in Gaza

LONDON: There is a “strong likelihood that famine is imminent in areas” of the northern Gaza Strip, a committee of global food security experts warned on Friday, as Israel pursues a military offensive against Palestinian militants Hamas in the area.
“Immediate action, within days not weeks, is required from all actors who are directly taking part in the conflict, or have influence on its conduct, to avert and alleviate this catastrophic situation,” the independent Famine Review Committee (FRC) said in a rare alert.
The warning comes just days ahead of a US deadline for Israel to improve the humanitarian situation in Gaza or face potential restrictions on US military aid.


Israeli army claims discovery of ‘Hezbollah training center’ near UNIFIL outpost as raids continue in Lebanon

Israeli army claims discovery of ‘Hezbollah training center’ near UNIFIL outpost as raids continue in Lebanon
Updated 30 min 52 sec ago
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Israeli army claims discovery of ‘Hezbollah training center’ near UNIFIL outpost as raids continue in Lebanon

Israeli army claims discovery of ‘Hezbollah training center’ near UNIFIL outpost as raids continue in Lebanon
  • Several videos showed residential houses and tourist, social and religious facilities being set with explosives and blown up remotely
  • Adraee also accused Hezbollah of “using ambulances to transport saboteurs and arms” and called on “medical personnel to avoid dealing and cooperating with Hezbollah members”

BEIRUT: The Israeli army on Friday continued to destroy houses in Lebanon’s southern border villages to establish a buffer zone. The latest bombing targeted the areas of Yaroun, Aitaroun and Maroun Al-Ras in Bint Jbeil.
Several videos showed residential houses and tourist, social and religious facilities being set with explosives and blown up remotely.
In parallel with the deliberate destruction, Israeli army spokesperson Avichay Adraee issued “a new urgent warning to the residents of southern Lebanon,” instructing them “to refrain from returning to the south, or to their houses or olive fields,” describing the region as “a dangerous combat zone.”
Adraee also accused Hezbollah of “using ambulances to transport saboteurs and arms” and called on “medical personnel to avoid dealing and cooperating with Hezbollah members.”
The army will take the “necessary measures against any vehicle transporting armed members regardless of its type,” he said.
Meanwhile, the Israeli army claimed that “surveillance cameras of the Oded Brigade reservists captured a Hezbollah training center just 200 meters from a UNIFIL outpost.”
The army claimed that “the forces discovered the training facility, which was used by Hezbollah for training, studying, and storing large quantities of weapons.”
It said that “the facility contained missile launchers used for firing at Israeli settlements, as well as documents and instructional books detailing Hezbollah’s operational methods, maps of Israel, explanations of the Israeli army’s equipment, and additional weapons.” The army said “the weapons were confiscated and the compound was dismantled.”
The Israeli army resumed raids on the Baalbek-Hermel area, killing and injuring people and causing further destruction.
The Ministerial Emergency Committee estimated that, as of Thursday evening, Israel had conducted 121 raids, including 56 on Nabatieh, 24 on Baalbek and 23 in the south.
The committee said the number of people killed so far in Israeli attacks on Lebanon exceed 3,100, while 14,000 people have been injured.
More than 1.2 million people have been displaced, with close to 200,000 staying in shelters, it added.
Lebanese observers believe this transitional phase, from now until US President-elect Donald Trump’s inauguration, is the most dangerous period for Lebanon.
Raids on Kfar Tebnit killed two people after a building comprising residential apartments and commercial shops was destroyed.
A raid on Zebdine in Nabatieh killed Mohammed Fayez Mokaddam and his sons, Fayez and Hadi Mokaddem, after their building was destroyed.
Zaher Ibrahim Ataya, a medic with Hezbollah’s Islamic Health Committee from the southern town of Tair Harfa, was killed when Israeli forces struck a newly established medical center.
The strike was part of a broader Israeli aerial campaign that targeted more than 50 towns across the Tyre and Bint Jbeil districts in the past 48 hours.
The Lebanese Red Cross chief Georges Kettaneh announced that rescue teams have returned to Wata Al-Khiyam to complete the recovery of victims from an incident on Oct. 27.
Working alongside UNIFIL forces and the Lebanese Army, teams recovered four bodies and remains, with efforts continuing to ensure the mission’s completion.
Earlier the Red Cross retrieved 17 bodies from the site where civilians, who had been tending to livestock, sought shelter in a building during an Israeli incursion.
The Israeli military initially stalled permission for the Lebanese Red Cross to recover the victims, eventually granting only a four-hour window for the operation.
The Israeli air campaign extended to Lebanon’s Bekaa region, with strikes hitting Hrabta town west of Baalbek and Hosh Al-Sayyed Ali near the Syrian border north of Hermel.
Sirens sounded across northern Israel, including Haifa, Nazareth, Kiryat Shmona and surrounding areas, as well as the Ramat Trump settlement in the Golan Heights and Israeli media reported approximately 30 rockets launched from Lebanon toward northern Israel and Haifa’s suburbs.
The Israeli military confirmed detecting about 20 rockets, with some being intercepted, and reported drone incursions in northern airspace, including one near Caesarea.
The Israeli military announced the death of a soldier from Battalion 8207, Alon Brigade (228), who succumbed to wounds sustained in southern Lebanon on Oct. 26, while Israeli army radio detailed a fierce battle in the border village of Aitaroun that claimed the lives of six Israeli soldiers.
Hezbollah said on Friday it had launched “dozens of rockets reaching as far as Haifa and south of Nazareth.”
The group claimed strikes on several targets, including the Stella Maris naval base and Ramat David air base, northwest and southeast of Haifa, respectively, Kiryat Shmona settlement, and military gatherings in Misgav Am and Margaliot settlements.
In response to Israeli infiltration attempts, Hezbollah reported targeting Israeli forces south of Adaisseh with artillery fire. The group also claimed to have destroyed a military bulldozer and inflicting casualties on accompanying infantry forces trying to advance northwest of Kfarkila.