Erdoğan considers full Turkish membership in China- and Russia-led organization: “It does not mean a break with the West”

Turkey could move from dialogue partner to full member of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said after attending the group’s summit in Bishkek. He insisted that such a decision would not mean choosing the East over the West.

“The prospect of Turkey becoming a full member of the organization does not imply a break with any other bloc or with the West,” Erdoğan told journalists on his return flight from Kyrgyzstan, according to a transcript of his remarks reported by Reuters.

At the Bishkek meeting, Erdoğan also held an informal discussion with Russian President Vladimir Putin and Belarusian leader Aleksandr Lukashenko. Images distributed by a Telegram channel associated with Lukashenko’s press service showed the three leaders sitting together on a sofa, with interpreters behind them. The post described the meeting as “Lukashenko, Putin and Erdoğan. Non-stop negotiations.”

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The prospect of Turkey becoming a full member of the organization does not imply a break with any other bloc or with the West.

The Shanghai Cooperation Organization was created around China and Russia and now has 10 full members: China, Russia, India, Pakistan, Iran, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan. Mongolia and Afghanistan hold observer status, while Turkey remains a dialogue partner.

Turkey is the only NATO member connected to the organization. Ankara maintains close ties with Russia and China while seeking greater influence in Central Asia, and Erdoğan says its engagement with the Shanghai Cooperation Organization should be understood as part of a foreign policy that preserves relations with multiple centers of power.

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Lukashenko, Putin and Erdoğan. Non-stop negotiations.