Erdogan says his goal is for Turkey to be a member of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization

Sep. 18 (EUROPA PRESS) –

The president of Turkey, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, has confirmed that his goal is for the country to become part of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), as he told reporters after attending the summit of said alliance as “special guest” at the invitation of his counterpart in Uzbekistan, Shavkat Mirziyoyev.

The Turkish president has expressed his desire that relations with the countries that make up the SCO “pass to a very different position”, according to the Turkish agency ‘Anadolu’. In addition, Erdogan has pointed out that his attendance as a guest marks “a significant step in this regard.”

Likewise, the Turkish leader has affirmed that the rest of the countries that participated in the meeting have appreciated Turkey’s “mediator” role in the conflict between Russia and Ukraine. “Almost all the leaders I met with and they especially thanked us for the role we played in de-escalating the war between Russia and Ukraine,” he said.

Erdogan has valued the path that the SCO has traveled in terms of security, economy and trade since it was established and has assured that the “decisive” role of the Asian continent in the world economy “is already evident”. “The members of the Organization produce more than 30 percent of the world’s gross domestic product with an economic size that reaches 20 billion dollars (a similar amount in euros),” he said.

The president of Turkey believes that the future of the country is linked to this organization. “It started as the ‘Shanghai Five’, but it is no longer a quintet. Currently, the number of members has reached nine. It has three observer members. There are also nine countries that are dialogue partners like us,” he replied to the press.