Erdoğan joins leaders at regional summit in Bishkek

BISHKEK

(AA Photo)

President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan arrived in Kyrgyzstan’s capital Bishkek on Aug. 31 to attend a summit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization and hold bilateral meetings with regional leaders.

Erdoğan was welcomed at Manas International Airport by Kyrgyz Prime Minister Adylbek Kasymaliev and Türkiye’s Ambassador to Bishkek Mekin Mustafa Kemal Ökem. First lady Emine Erdoğan accompanied the president.

Erdoğan was scheduled to attend the opening ceremony of the World Nomad Games at Bishkek Arena later on Aug. 31.

Chaired by Kyrgyz President Sadyr Japarov, the SCO summit is expected to focus on regional stability, strengthening international law, increasing trade among member states, expanding logistics networks and cooperation on digitalization projects.

Participants are also expected to discuss deepening humanitarian and cultural cooperation.

The summit is poised to conclude with the adoption of the Bishkek Declaration marking the SCO’s 25th anniversary and the signing of strategic decisions aimed at expanding multilateral cooperation.

An expanded session will address the role of the United Nations in global coordination and sustainable development goals.

Among the participants are Chinese President Xi Jinping, Russian President Vladimir Putin, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian, Azerbaijani President İlham Aliyev and Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan.

Putin’s foreign policy adviser Yuri Ushakov confirmed that the Russian president will hold a one-on-one meeting with Erdoğan in Bishkek.

The meeting is expected to cover the course of the war in Ukraine and prospects for peace, Black Sea security, bilateral trade and deeper energy cooperation.

Erdoğan is also expected to hold a bilateral meeting with Aliyev.

Putin and Xi have previously used SCO summits to promote their vision of a multipolar world and present a united front against the West.

It takes place four-and-a-half years into Moscow’s Ukraine invasion and six months into the war between Washington and Tehran.

Putin, Xi, Pezeshkian, Modi and Pakistani Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif are due to take part in a plenary session chaired by Kyrgyz leader Sadyr Japarov.

The Russian president is also expected to hold separate bilateral talks with Pezeshkian and Xi, among other leaders, Kremlin spokesman Yuri Ushakov said.

Putin’s meeting with Pezeshkian comes days after the CIA’s director John Ratcliffe made a rare trip to Moscow, with U.S. media speculating he could have discussed Ukraine and Iran with his Russian counterparts.

The SCO has historically focused on economic issues. It gained momentum in recent years under Moscow’s and Beijing’s leadership.

On top of its 10 members, it now has 15 “dialogue partners,” including Türkiye, Saudi Arabia and Qatar. It also has two observer countries: Afghanistan and Mongolia.

The SCO’s founding declaration says the group is “not an alliance directed against other states.”