The participants of the 22nd SCO summit agreed that their political differences need to be resolved peacefully
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan announced that Turkey is seeking to become a full member of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), according to broadcaster NTV.
Erdogan made the statement after attending the summit in Uzbekistan, saying that “our relations with these countries will be moved to a much different position with this step.”
The SCO is a multilateral body that was founded in 2001. It is currently comprised of Russia, India, China, Pakistan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, and its latest member Iran.
Turkey is currently one of six partner countries.
Erdogan also announced that he and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin were able to resolve a dispute during the meeting over plans to build a nuclear power plant in Akkuyu, southern Turkey.
The issue emerged after Russian state nuclear energy company Rosatom suspended the Turkish contractor IC Ictas from the project.
“God willing we will be able to finish and inaugurate the first (Akkuyu) unit in 2023,” Erdogan said.
The SCO is growing in recognition following the approval of Iran’s permanent membership in the political, economic, and security alliance on 17 September 2021.
One year later, the President of Uzbekistan, Shavkat Mirziyoyev, announced the full membership of Iran during the meeting in Samarkand at the 22nd SCO summit.
The participating countries of the 22nd SCO summit also signed a new declaration, highlighting global changes with the trend of moving towards a multi-polar world order.
“Based on the principles of the Charter of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, the member states oppose grouping, and ideological and confrontational approaches to solving international and regional issues, and stick to a coordinated manner to security threats and challenges in traditional and non-traditional fields,” the Samarkand declaration added.
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