Türkiye Seeks To Become a Full Member of the SCO

Türkiye's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said after the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) summit in Samarkand that Ankara aspires to become a full member.

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"Of course, we are not members of the Shanghai Five. We are here [in Samarkand] as special guests at the invitation of the host country, Uzbekistan. (...) Now the next process is a step to the most advanced stage of this work," the president communicated.

He also noted that the issue will be on the agenda during the summit in India, which will chair the SCO in the next period, in 2023.

"With this step, our relations with these countries [SCO members] will move to a completely different level," the Turkish leader added, noting that during the summit they held "fruitful" bilateral meetings with the presidents of Azerbaijan, China, Mongolia, Uzbekistan, Russia and Iran, as well as with the prime ministers of Pakistan and India.

In addition, there was an "exchange of views on (...) bilateral relations, as well as on current global issues," he added.

Erdogan himself said he hoped that the consultations and contacts between the countries would produce good results.

The SCO summit was held in Samarkand on September 15-16. The participants met in a reduced and expanded format and signed documents enshrining the positions of the participating countries on crucial regional and global issues.

Founded in 2001, the SCO today comprises eight member states: China, India, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Pakistan, Russia, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan.