Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Wednesday that Turkey is not distancing itself from the West as it pursues closer relations with Eastern countries. Erdogan made these remarks while returning from a Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) summit.
During the conference in Kyrgyzstan, Erdogan held a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin, where they discussed further nuclear cooperation. The Turkish president reiterated Turkey's aspiration to become a full member of the SCO, an organization that includes Russia, China, India, and Iran among its ten current members.
"I would also like to particularly emphasize that Turkey’s membership perspective in the organization does not mean a break from a bloc or turning our backs on the West," Erdogan told journalists on the presidential plane.
Addressing the ongoing war in Ukraine, a conflict where Turkey has maintained relations with both Moscow and Kyiv, Erdogan stated that he and Putin "expect… that the war between Russia and Ukraine ends peacefully as soon as possible."
He also highlighted the critical importance of maritime security in the Black Sea, noting the increase in attacks on civilian shipping. "There is a need for a mechanism that will permanently ensure the safety of commercial maritime transport in the Black Sea," Erdogan said, adding that such a mechanism would help prevent a "resurgence of the grain crisis."
In 2022, Turkey played a key role in brokering a grain deal that reopened Ukrainian ports and facilitated the movement of Russian food and fertilizer. This agreement, from which Russia withdrew a year later, was crucial for global food supplies, particularly in Africa, the Middle East, and Asia.
The SCO, established in 2001, also counts Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Pakistan, and Belarus among its members. The bloc has been described as a potential counterweight to U.S. global influence, though its objectives and initiatives are not always clearly defined.