Physical Address
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President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan delivered a brief speech at the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) summit in Tianjin, China, on Monday. Representing Türkiye, the international body’s dialogue partner, Erdoğan expressed hope for further cooperation with the China-led body, which brings together countries mainly in Asia.
Türkiye joined the SCO as a Dialogue Partner in 2013 and was granted the chairmanship of the international body’s energy club for one year in 2016. Ankara has previously expressed its desire for full membership in the SCO, and last year, Erdoğan reaffirmed this goal, underlining that it would not be considered an alternative to Türkiye’s membership in NATO and its pursuit of EU accession. Currently, it is the only NATO member among the SCO’s dialogue partners and the only country on the path to EU accession.
Erdoğan noted that Türkiye was preparing to host a U.N. climate change conference in 2025 and highlighted the SCO’s role as a critical platform for energy security and strategic infrastructure projects, especially in establishing partnerships in these fields.
The president devoted most of his speech at the summit to the situation in Gaza in the face of Israel’s persistent attacks. He criticized the international community’s inaction in the face of Israel’s killings of Palestinians in Gaza. “There is no explanation for the failure to stop violence for 23 months where babies are killed,” he said. The Turkish leader, who is expected to attend the upcoming U.N. General Assembly in the U.S., said it was everyone’s responsibility to make the U.N. a platform representing global justice in the face of the oppression that the people of Palestine have been exposed to for years.
Erdoğan also spoke about peace efforts elsewhere and rebuilding and recovery in Türkiye’s neighbor, Syria, where the international community scrambled to build new ties in the post-Assad era. Erdoğan said that contributing to Syria, with an emphasis on safeguarding its territorial integrity and political unity, was in the best interest of the entire region. He also emphasized Türkiye’s satisfaction with the steps taken to maintain permanent peace, stability, and prosperity in the South Caucasus and Central Asia, in reference to the recent peace deal between Armenia and Azerbaijan brokered by the U.S.
“We hope these steps will contribute to the development of humanitarian, economic and commercial relations, as well as the opening of transportation and communication routes. Our close cooperation with our brotherly countries in Central Asia through bilateral and multilateral platforms is growing stronger every day. The initiatives we have taken within the Organization of Turkic States (OTS) not only benefit our brotherly countries but also contribute to the stability of our wider region. Our work continues toward hosting the 31st Conference of the Parties (COP31) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change in 2025. We view developments in energy and connectivity as vital for global stability, economic development, energy supply security, and sustainable growth,” Erdoğan said.
President Erdoğan said that the Shanghai Cooperation Organization is a vital platform for enhancing energy security and fostering partnerships in strategic infrastructure projects. “As the Asian nation furthest west and the European nation furthest east, with our geostrategic position at the heart of Asia, Europe and the Middle East, we continue to contribute to uninterrupted and secure transportation and communication,” he said. “While aiming to revive the historic Silk Road through the East-West Middle Corridor Initiative that passes through the Caspian Sea, we are also working to align this initiative with the Belt and Road Initiative. Through the North-South-East Development Road project we have implemented, we aim to connect a vast geography. Türkiye’s vision is based on respect for the sovereignty and territorial integrity of all countries and solving problems through dialogue, diplomacy, and cooperation. In this context, we aim for a world order that prioritizes economic development, trade and the welfare of societies. I hope to strengthen our cooperation with the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, which represents Asia’s ancient climate of tolerance and tradition of finding common solutions to problems.”
Türkiye pursues a delicate diplomacy, balancing national interests with the establishment of friendly ties with all countries, regardless of their alignments, in a world where Cold War-era polarization occasionally rears its ugly head. Ankara’s efforts to boost ties with China and Russia were interpreted as a departure from its longtime alignment with the Western world, but Türkiye denies this and regularly courts and is courted by the said world, although differences remain.
Erdoğan is a fervent critic of the current world order, particularly the structure of the United Nations, which he views as an obstacle to a fairer representation of the broader international community. He sums it up with an oft-repeated slogan, “the world is bigger than five,” in reference to the five permanent members of the powerful United Nations Security Council.
