Zhang Ming, Secretary General of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, made important statements regarding the special invitation of President Erdoğan to the Leaders’ Summit.
ZHANG MING: IT IS NATURAL TO INVITE TURKEY
Saying that it was natural for President Erdogan to be invited to the Heads of State Summit, Secretary General Zhang said, “Turkey has shown great interest in the SCO since its establishment. It was accepted as a dialogue partner in 2012. Since then, Turkey has been actively interacting with member states.” .
Influenced by Turkey’s proactive foreign policy and diplomatic moves, especially the Ukraine-Russia war, Zhang said, “We value Turkey’s desire to follow a balanced line at a time when war and conflict tendencies are increasing in the international system. Ankara is more active in the SCO. “We welcome Turkey’s contribution to the continuation of regional peace, security and development by playing a constructive role in regional conflicts,” he said.
“WE ARE DIFFERENT FROM NATO”
Stating that he did not agree with the idea that NATO and SCO correspond to each other, Zhang said, “Our organization is completely different from NATO by its nature. We are not a military alliance.”
Regarding Turkey’s role in the SCO as a NATO member, the Secretary General said, “We see great hopes in the development of relations with Turkey, as a country located in the Eurasian region and actively developing equal and mutually beneficial relations with SCO members, rather than a NATO membership.”