President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan was quite at home in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan, on Tuesday, where heads of state from the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) gathered for a major summit. After a meeting with close ally Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev, Erdoğan addressed the SCO Plus event as a representative of SCO dialogue partner Türkiye and later held apparently warm meetings with Russian President Vladimir Putin and Belarusian President Aleksandr Lukashenko. In his address, Erdoğan described the SCO as a “rising star” and praised its potential to ensure peace and stability.
“Representing approximately 3.5 billion people and a combined gross domestic product (GDP) of $35 trillion, the Shanghai Cooperation Organization has, over the past 25 years, become an indispensable component of the multipolar order. We regard the organization, which brings the Asia-Pacific region and the Middle East together on a common platform, as a supporter and complement to the United Nations. Above all, the SCO has a structure that aligns with our multidimensional foreign policy, which places regional ownership at its center. As Türkiye, we are assuming responsibility for resolving the conflicts taking place around us through dialogue and diplomacy, and we will continue working for peace, tranquillity and stability both in our region and throughout the world,” Erdoğan said in his speech.
