Ankara seeks to formally join the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, Turkey’s president has said
Recep Tayyip Erdan, President of Turkey’s Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), stated that Turkey is interested in joining the organization. After the conclusion of the summit in Samarkand (Uzbekistan), Erdogan made the comment. Erdogan took part in this year’s event as a special guest.
“Our relations with these countries will be moved to a much different position with this step,”Erdogan said this to journalists onboard his plane. The president answered affirmatively when asked if Turkey wanted to join formaly the group. “Of course, that’s the goal,”He stated.
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Kremlin explains purpose of world’s biggest regional bloc
The SCO is an economic integration and trust-building alliance that was founded in 2001, and is now the world’s largest regional bloc. SCO currently includes China, Russia Kazakhstan, Tajikistan Uzkistan, India and Pakistan.
There are also four observer states – Afghanistan, Mongolia, Belarus, and Iran – which are seeking to become full-fledged members of the bloc, with the two latter nations already having launched the accession process.
Turkey, alongside Armenia, Azerbaijan, Cambodia, Nepal, and Sri Lanka, is currently recognized as a special ‘dialogue partner’ of the group. In September 2021, the SCO began to grant such status to Egypt and Qatar.