Türkiye’s multidimensional and multilateral diplomacy has once again come into view at the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) summit.
The Mecca Joint Defense Agreement, which made headlines and sparked widespread global discussion in recent weeks, has established an important security axis among Türkiye, Pakistan and Saudi Arabia. As new states join this emerging security axis, Türkiye will create a new area of cooperation that could become one of the world’s significant centers of power and security.
At a time when war rhetoric is frequently heard across the world, Türkiye is adopting an approach that places peace at the center of all the alliances and cooperation mechanisms it establishes.
NATO membership, the Mecca Agreement and the relations developed through the SCO form distinct elements of Türkiye’s multilateral foreign policy. President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan previously stated that Türkiye, which participates in the SCO as an observer, could consider the possibility of full membership.
Erdoğan’s message that Türkiye is prepared to take its relations with the SCO further and, when necessary, consider full membership demonstrates that Türkiye’s foreign-policy horizons are expanding. Erdoğan also made clear that the Shanghai perspective does not mean turning Türkiye’s back on the West.
