Why is Kuwait approaching Turkey for military cooperation?

Saudi Arabia’s regional policies might be pushing neighbouring countries to find new alliances.

“Kuwaitis need a regional force like Turkey to deal with Saudi ill intentions,” a Lebanese researcher explained. 

“They (Kuwait) are truly afraid of a Saudi invasion because of a hegemony crisis in the oil fields, Kuwait’s ties with Qatar and the blank check Trump has issued to MBS [Mohammed bin Salman],” Ali Mourad told Al Monitor. 

Most Gulf nations rely on the United States for security, but this could be changing. 

Kuwait has signed a defence plan for 2019 with Turkey, aiming at an exchange of military ‘experience and know-how’ between the two countries.

It’s pertinent to mention that Saddam Hussein’s Iraq invaded Kuwait in 1990 leading to the first Gulf War and Kuwait has been wary ever since.

The latest dispute between Saudi Arabia and Kuwait—which has brought the Saudi-Kuwait relationship into question—centres around the  ‘Neutral Zone’, or Divided Zone. This nearly 6000 square km area between the two countries was left undefined when the border was defined during the Uqair Convention in 1922. 

Within that area exist jointly operated oil fields, mainly Khafji and Wafra, which stand as the biggest obstacles between the two countries at a time when the world’s oil capacity faces a decrease, as Iranian oil production dropped due to US sanctions, and Venezuela’s continuously declining output.