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Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan attends a meeting of the heads of member states of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) at a summit in Samarkand, Uzbekistan on September 16, 2022. Photo / Uzbekistan Ministry of Foreign Affairs / REUTERS
The statement came after the group’s summit in Samarkand, Uzbekistan. Erdogan took part in this year’s event as a special guest.
“Our relations with these countries will be moved to a very different position with this move,” Erdogan told reporters on his plane.
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Asked if Turkey was trying to officially join the group, the president responded emphatically. “Sure, that’s the goal,” he said.
The SCO is an alliance for economic integration and trust building founded in 2001 and is now the largest regional bloc in the world.
Today SCO unites China, Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, India and Pakistan.
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There are also four observer countries: Afghanistan, Mongolia, Belarus and Iran that are looking to become full members of the bloc.
Belarus and Iran have started the accession process as official members of the SCO.
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