KUWAIT

13.01.2021
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Kuwait is a country in Western Asia. Situated in the northern edge of Eastern Arabia at the tip of the Persian Gulf, it borders Iraq to the north and Saudi Arabia to the south. As of 2016, Kuwait has a population of 4.5 million people: 1.3 million are Kuwaitis and 3.2 million are expatriates.Expatriates account for approximately 70% of the population.

Oil reserves were discovered in commercial quantities in 1938. In 1946, crude oil was exported for the first time.From 1946 to 1982, the country underwent large-scale modernization. In the 1980s, Kuwait experienced a period of geopolitical instability and an economic crisis following the stock market crash. In 1990, Kuwait was invaded, and later annexed, by Saddam’s Iraq. The Iraqi occupation of Kuwait came to an end in 1991 after military intervention by a military coalition led by the United States. Kuwait is a non-NATO ally of the United States.

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In the early 1980s, Kuwait experienced a major economic crisis after the Souk Al-Manakh stock market crash and decrease in oil price.

During the Iran–Iraq War, Kuwait supported Iraq. Throughout the 1980s, there were several terror attacks in Kuwait, including the 1983 Kuwait bombings, hijacking of several Kuwait Airways planes and the attempted assassination of Emir Jaber in 1985. Kuwait was a regional hub of science and technology in the 1960s and 1970s up until the early 1980s; the scientific research sector significantly suffered due to the terror attacks.

After the Iran–Iraq War ended, Kuwait declined an Iraqi request to forgive its US$65 billion debt. An economic rivalry between the two countries ensued after Kuwait increased its oil production by 40 percent.Tensions between the two countries increased further in July 1990, after Iraq complained to OPEC claiming that Kuwait was stealing its oil from a field near the border by slant drilling of the Rumaila field.

In August 1990, Iraqi forces invaded and annexed Kuwait. After a series of failed diplomatic negotiations, the United States led a coalition to remove the Iraqi forces from Kuwait, in what became known as the Gulf War. On 26 February 1991, the coalition succeeded in driving out the Iraqi forces. As they retreated, Iraqi forces carried out a scorched earth policy by setting oil wells on fire. During the Iraqi occupation, more than 1,000 Kuwaiti civilians were killed. In addition, more than 600 Kuwaitis went missing during Iraq’s occupation; remains of approximately 375 were found in mass graves in Iraq.

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Kuwait–Turkey relations

Kuwait–Turkey relations are foreign relations between Turkey and Kuwait. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Turkey describes the current relations as being at “outstanding levels”. Bilateral trade between the two countries in 2016 was estimated to be worth around US$700 million by the Turkish Deputy Prime Minister, Mehmet Simek.

The two countries have recently signed fifteen agreements for cooperation in tourism, health, environment, economy, commercial exchange and oil.

When Turkey was struck by an earthquake in 2011, Kuwait donated 250,000 dollars for the victims through the UN Development Programme (UNDP).

In October 2018 Turkey and Kuwait signed a joint defense plan for 2019 aimed at enhancing military cooperation between the two countries.

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