SCO, Turkey and the rise of the non-Western world

President Erdogan is going to Samarkand for the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) summit tomorrow. The Organization, of which Turkey is a dialogue partner, was founded in 1996. The SCO consists of Russia, China, India, Pakistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan. Although the importance of the SCO increased with the participation of India and Pakistan in 2017, the Samarkand summit, which will take place after the Russia-Ukraine War, attracts a different attention. Western media peak “against the West a new alliance” and “West meeting of opponents place” refers to as. He also voices the view that Iran, Gulf countries, Egypt and Turkey’s interest in the SCO may produce serious consequences for the West and the Middle East. Chinese and Russian leaders after the Ukrainian War Si and Putin’In spite of the competition between them, it is expected to focus on the projects produced to make the SCO more effective. The circles criticizing Turkey’s non-participation in the Russian sanctions also mentioned Erdogan’s presence at the SCO summit. “axis change” It is not surprising that he was greeted with love. Of course, I disagree with such arguments. What is happening is that Ankara is adapting to the new world of great power competition by taking part in the Western alliance. While alliances gain new meanings, Turkey prefers to develop multiple relations. As an influential regional power, he has experienced enough to see that old rote approaches do not work. How can the US and EU’s military support of the PKK-YPG and their attitudes towards FETO be managed with the classical alliance understanding?

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It is no coincidence that the Samarkand summit is being talked about as a sign of a new geopolitical change in the international system. First the coronavirus epidemic, then the Russia-Ukraine War accelerated the great power rivalry. This acceleration is expected to produce widespread and effective changes in the coming years. to the 2020s “centennial change” who said he could fit Richard Haass’according to “a dangerous decade” we are in. The world order is in a sharp decline. This decline coincides with a time when old (great power competition, imperial ambitions, struggle over resources) and new (climate change, epidemic, nuclear proliferation) threats converge and the United States cannot grapple with them. In Haass’ warnings “near period problem with Russia as “middle and in the long run read” China, which he describes as the SCO, is uniting within the framework of the SCO. Considering that many countries outside the Western alliance did not participate in the Russian sanctions, “Anti-Western world order is forming The anxiety is understandable. It is a fundamental reality that the non-Western world is on the rise at a time when the United States is increasingly losing its ability and will to restore the current international order. It is also clear that India, Gulf and Middle East countries are facing this reality.

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Critics of Turkey’s active balance policy between Russia and Ukraine have recently “Erdogan deserves Putin giving” and “On the side of Russia attitude” uses the phrase. What Erdogan said about Russia in Serbia “To Russia right slip” There are those who see Ankara maintains a careful balance between Kyiv and Moscow. It did not participate in the Russian sanctions and provided a significant impact on the field with the support of SİHA to Ukraine. By maintaining its position that can negotiate with both sides, it is effective in opening the grain corridor and ensuring the safety of the Zaporozhian nuclear reactor. To this effect, French President Macron, “The only one in contact with Russia power Turkey”, If Putin “We use the grain aisle We did it with Erdogan” he pointed. It is necessary to focus on the benefits of Ankara’s good relations with the SCO world, including Russia, as a Western alliance. This relationship “opposition” to see it as misleading. Turkey’s position, opportunities and threats in the new world cannot be sustained with the narrow patterns and impositions of the classical alliance understanding. Participating in the SCO summit means that Turkey takes the scale of its foreign policy to a global scale in its own region.

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