Kuwait emir meets Turkish Deputy PM

By Mohamed Abdul Ghaffar and Ahmed al-Masri

KUWAIT CITY (AA) – Kuwait’s emir Sabah Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah met Tuesday with Turkish Deputy Prime Minister Mehmet Simsek, according to the official KUNA news agency.

The meeting was attended by Kuwaiti Deputy Minister for Amiri Diwan Affairs Sheikh Ali Jarrah Al-Sabah and Minister of Commerce, Industry and Acting Minister of State of Youth Affairs Khaled Nasser Al-Roudhan.

Simsek arrived in Kuwait on Monday to lead his country’s delegation to the Turkish-Kuwaiti Committee for Economic, Industrial and Technical Cooperation.

The visit comes less than two months after a visit by outgoing Kuwaiti Prime Minister Jaber Al-Mubarak Al-Hamad Al-Sabah to Ankara in September during which he signed six cooperation agreements between the two countries.

Relations between Turkey and Kuwait have been steadily progressing in recent years with the two states sharing identical views about several issues.

Ankara backs Kuwaiti efforts to resolve the Gulf crisis that was triggered in June when Saudi Arabia, Egypt, the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain cut diplomatic and trade ties with Qatar.

The four states accuse Qatar of supporting terrorist groups -- allegations Doha strenuously denies.