site.btaPotential Benefits for Turkey from Joining SCO

Yet another country, Turkey, may in all probability soon graduate to the status of fill membership of the influential Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO). Last week, the ancient Uzbek city of Samarkand hosted the SCO 22nd Summit, with Turkey participating at presidential level for the first time since it was approved as Dialogue Partner in 2012.

After the meeting, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Ankara will seek to become a full-fledged member, adding that specific steps to achieve this task will be taken.

So what would Turkey benefit from full SCO membership?

The Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) is a Eurasian political, economic and security organization. In terms of geographic scope and population, it is the world's largest regional organization, covering approximately 60% of the area of Eurasia, 40% of the world population, and more than 30% of global GDP.

In fact, two of the leading economic powers – China and India – are members of the organization. From a geopolitical perspective, SCO includes four of the leading world nuclear powers (Russia, China, India and Pakistan) and two of the five UN Security Council permanent members (China and Russia). SCO is practically just as – and in some respects even more – powerful than NATO and G-7, some analysts say.

China, Russia, India, Pakistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan and Tajikistan are full members of the organization mainly focused on security-related concerns, particularly the fight against terrorism in Eurasia. Last week, Iran also signed a memorandum of obligations related to its accession to SCO, to be followed by a long process of its accession to the organization’s fundamental documents. Before that, Iran had observer status.

The summit in Samarkand was also attended by the presidents of Mongolia and Belarus (as countries with observer status), as well as of Azerbaijan. A number of Arab states, including Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates and Syria, as well as others like Cambodia, Myanmar and Nepal, want to join SCO. In various forms, the organisation now covers almost all of Asia.

A full-fledged membership would thus undoubtedly be very important to Turkey. Particularly as its differences with the West increased considerably during Erdogan’s tenure. Many western leaders consider him a dictator and are displeased with his cooperation with Russia, particularly because of the purchase of the S-400 missile defence systems and the construction of the TurkStream gas pipeline and the Akkuyu N-plant. The NATO allies are not on Turkey’s side on matters related to Kurdish separatism and the military operations in SE Turkey, Syria and Iraq, or the controversies with Greece either.

Also, Turkey faces major economic challenges as the lira nosedived over the past year, hand in hand with the impact of the coronavirus pandemic felt by most countries. To cushion the economic setbacks, Erdogan has embarked on a strategy of improving relations with some of the rich Arab countries, including Saudi Arabia, and stepping up trade with Russia, Central Asia and China. Some of these are already in SCO, while others also want to join. 

The fact that lucrative projects can be implemented within the SCO framework, from which Ankara will only benefit and will thus enable Erdogan to strengthen his badly shaken position before the presidential and parliamentary elections in the country, scheduled for June 2023, is quite important.

Yet another important factor in support of Turkey’s decision could be the observation of some analysts that, unlike NATO and the EU, which are dominated by the will of certain powers, all countries in SCO feel independent and autonomous. No one imposes their ideology and values on others.  The purpose of the SCO is multilateralism, respect for the sovereignty of the participants and affirmation of traditional values. Clearly, and for this reason, the Turkish leader wants his country to be not just an observer, but a full member of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation.

In an interview with PBS TV following his visit to Samarkand, Erdogan even said Ankara does not intend to report to the European Union for participation in the SCO summit. “The European Union will hold us back for 52 years, won’t let us get close to it, and then asks: ‘Why did he meet with this country, why did he meet with another?’ I will negotiate. While conducting these negotiations, we are not currently accountable to the European Union,” the Turkish leader stressed.

Last, but not least, the expansion of SCO is also very important to Russia and China, for they are its chief architects, after all. Should Turkey become a full member, it will be the first one that is both a NATO member and a EU candidate.