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Recep Tayyip Erdoğan at the SCO summit in Uzbekistan
Photo:
ALEXANDR DEMYANCHUK/SPUTNIK/KREMLIN POOL/EPA
At a table with China and Russia: Turkey wants to join the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO).
According to Turkey's state-run Anadolu News Agency, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said after the organization's summit in Samarkand, Uzbekistan, that Turkey intends to discuss the goal of membership at the group's meeting in India next year.
Turkey has "historical and cultural" connections to the Asian continent and wants to play a role in the organization, whose members together make up "30 percent of global economic output," Erdoğan said.
Turkey is currently listed as a dialogue partner by the SCO.
In the event of accession, Turkey would be the first member of the group to also belong to the western defense alliance NATO.
Established in 2001 to fight terrorism, the group includes China, Russia, India, Pakistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan.
At the most recent summit, Iran was also admitted, which, like Belarus and Mongolia, had previously had observer status.
The process for the admission of the Russian ally Belarus, which is considered the »last dictatorship in Europe«, also began.
Frozen negotiations on EU accession
Erdoğan's statements could be a sign towards the West: the Turkish President accuses NATO and the EU of not supporting Turkey.
Turkey and Erdoğan are pushing for EU membership, but the country has held candidate status since 1999 without making any significant progress.
The negotiations are frozen.
In recent years, the EU Commission has attested to serious steps backwards in Turkey in terms of the rule of law, freedom of expression and the independence of the judiciary.
Turkey, on the other hand, has common interests and good relations with Russia – although Ankara condemns Moscow's attack on Ukraine.
Turkey recently tried to mediate between the warring parties, for example on the issue of Ukrainian grain exports across the Black Sea.
hba/dpa
