Scholz annoyed – Erdogan wants to join the organization with Russia

Based in Beijing, the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) is concerned with security policy cooperation between member states, as well as economic and trade issues and stability in the region. Currently, the SCO represents about 40 percent of the world’s population, as it also includes densely populated countries like China and India. Other members include Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Pakistan, Russia, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan. Iran is currently in the accession process.

If President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has his way, Turkey can follow. He attended the meeting of the Shanghai organization and expressed the NATO country’s desire for membership. Erdogan justified this by saying that Turkey also feels like an Asian country.

Scholz: “No contribution to good cooperation”
The president also spoke to German Chancellor Olaf Scholz about this during a meeting at the UN General Assembly in New York. He wasn’t very enthusiastic about the idea. “We believe that this is not an organization that makes a very important contribution to a good coexistence in the world. That is why I am very annoyed by the development and discussions,” said Scholz.

In any case, it is important to make it clear to Russia that the war against Ukraine must not be successful. Turkey is also concerned about the war. “Of course we talked about the fact that the agreement reached on grain exports should not be jeopardized,” said Scholz. Russia could stop exports again. The Turkish government had negotiated with the UN between the warring parties that food exports from Ukraine, interrupted by the war, could be restarted.