Türkiye interested in SCO membership
Photo courtesy of Kazinform
MINSK, 5 July (BelTA) – Türkiye seeks to become a member of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization and sees no obstacles to this, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan told journalists upon returning from Kazakhstan where he attended the SCO summit, TASS reports.
“We believe that we should join the organization as a permanent member, not a dialogue partner. Ultimately, Iran joined the SCO, Pakistan is also its member. There is no way Türkiye will not be able to join them, although this may take some time,” the Turkish leader said.
The Turkish president remarked that Ankara wants to step up interaction with Russia and China within the SCO and sees the growing weight of Turkic states in this organization. “Russia is developing relations with the Turkic member states at the SCO. These states make up the majority of SCO members, and their standing will only grow. We also believe that we should keep expanding contacts with Russia and China within the SCO,” Recep Tayyip Erdogan remarked.
The SCO summit took place in the capital of Kazakhstan on 3-4 July. The event was attended by the heads of state and government of Russia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, India, Iran, Kazakhstan, Qatar, Kyrgyzstan, China, Mongolia, the UAE, Pakistan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Türkiye and Uzbekistan.
