Turkey is moving towards Putin and China: Erdogan wants to join the SCO alliance

Created: 09/19/2022 05:03

By: Kathrin Reikowski

Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan maintains good relations with Vladimir Putin.

Now he wants to join the SCO alliance alongside Russia and China.

© Alexandr Demyanchuk/dpa

Erdogan wants Turkey to become a member of the SCO, which also includes China and Russia.

In addition to economic interests, the reason may also be disappointment with the EU.

Istanbul - Turkey under President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is considered a mediator between Ukraine and Russia in the Ukraine war and is a NATO member.

But the relationship between Turkey and the EU and the so-called West is considered tense - the human rights situation in Turkey has been repeatedly denounced from the West, and Turkey has had EU candidate status for decades.

Now Erdogan is apparently planning a step towards China and Russia: According to Erdogan, the Turkish state wants to join the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), whose largest members are China and Russia.

According to Turkey's state news agency Anadolu, Erdogan said on Saturday after a summit of the organization in Samarkand, Uzbekistan, that Turkey wants to discuss the goal of membership at the group's meeting in India next year.

Turkey would be the first SCO member that also belongs to NATO

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," Erdogan said.

Turkey is currently listed as a dialogue partner by the Shanghai organization.

In the event of accession, Turkey would be the first member of the group to also belong to the western defense alliance NATO.

Turkey and the EU: Erdogan accuses the EU of lacking support

Established in 2001 to fight terrorism, the group includes China, Russia, India, Pakistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan.

The latest summit also included Iran, which is facing domestic unrest following the death of an activist in police custody.

Like Belarus and Mongolia, Iran has so far had observer status.

The process for the admission of Belarus, which is considered the “last dictatorship in Europe”, also began.

Erdogan accuses NATO and the EU, for which Turkey has had candidate status since 1999 without any significant progress, of lacking support for Turkey.

Turkey and Russia, in turn, have common interests and good relations in some areas - although Ankara condemns Russia'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.