Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Sunday arrived in the Chinese port city of Tianjin to attend the 25th Heads of State Council meeting of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) as a guest of honour.
Starting his diplomatic engagements on the sidelines of the event, Erdogan met Chinese President Xi Jinping and Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Sunday and is set to address the SCO Summit in an expanded session on Monday. He will also hold bilateral talks with other participating leaders on the sidelines of the event.
The visit marks Erdogan’s first trip to China in five years and comes amid growing strategic ties between Ankara and Beijing.
This year’s SCO summit carries added significance amid global turbulence, with uncertainty over the Russia-Ukraine ceasefire and mounting strains on the world economy from US President Donald Trump’s tariff policies.
Commenting on the significance of Türkiye’s participation at the SCO, former Kyrgyz Prime Minister Djoomart Otorbaev told TRT World in a phone call from Bishkek that Ankara’s presence at the summit highlights its “deliberate strategy: balancing Western alliances while deepening engagement with Eurasia.”
Otorbaev described Türkiye as “the only NATO voice in the SCO,” noting that since 2012 it has been the first and only NATO member to hold SCO dialogue partner status. “This rare position highlights Ankara’s deliberate strategy: balancing Western alliances while deepening engagement with Eurasia,” he explained.
Kyrgyzstan, together with Russia, China, Kazakhstan, and Tajikistan, was among the founding members of the “Shanghai Five” established in 1996. The group later evolved into the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) in 2001 with the inclusion of Uzbekistan.
Since then, the SCO has expanded significantly. India and Pakistan became full members in 2018, followed by Iran in 2023 and Belarus in 2024. Today, the organisation brings together 10 member states, two observers, and 14 dialogue partners—collectively representing more than 41 percent of the world’s population, over 34 percent of global GDP (PPP), and nearly a quarter of the world’s land area.
Since its founding in 2001, the SCO has expanded to 10 members, 2 observers, and 14 dialogue partners—together representing 41 percent of the world’s population, 34 percent of global GDP (PPP), and 24 percent of the Earth’s land area. / TRT World
Otorbaev pointed to Türkiye’s expanding role within the organisation under Erdogan, recalling its chairmanship of the SCO Energy Club in 2017, its deepening energy and trade ties with Russia and China, and its growing cooperation with Central Asian members Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, and Uzbekistan. With Azerbaijan now applying for full SCO membership, Otorbaev argued, “Türkiye’s Eurasian dimension is becoming harder to ignore.”
“There is a natural connection between Türkiye and the SCO since three of its founding members — Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, and Uzbekistan — are Turkic-speaking,” he noted. “President Erdogan’s attendance at the Tianjin Summit will strengthen ties among Turkic nations,” Otorbaev said, predicting that Ankara could become a full member in the future.
Last year, Erdogan expressed his desire to make Türkiye a full member of the SCO. "Our goal is to become a permanent member. Türkiye should join the 'Shanghai Five' as a permanent member instead of being an observer state,” he had said at a press conference.
Otorbaev stressed that in today’s turbulent global context—marked by the war in Ukraine, instability in the Middle East, intensifying US-China rivalry, and renewed trade tensions—Türkiye’s presence in the SCO provides it with leverage few others possess. “As the only NATO member at the SCO table, it can speak to both camps, mediating disputes and shaping debates across fault lines,” he said.
“The SCO offers Ankara a platform to balance these interests, while showcasing to allies in NATO and the EU that it has options beyond the transatlantic orbit,” Otorbaev added. “Türkiye’s challenge is to prove that being the only NATO member in the SCO is not a contradiction, but a unique strength. If Ankara can pull it off, it may succeed in shaping debates far beyond Eurasia.”
He concluded that Erdogan’s attendance in Tianjin sends a clear message: “Türkiye intends to help shape a multipolar world—not from the sidelines, but at the centre of the table.”
This strategic vision is echoed in Erdogan’s own words. In a signed article for China’s People’s Daily newspaper published on Sunday, the Turkish President called for global peace, justice, and cooperation.
In the article titled "A Shared Path to Peace and Justice," Erdogan highlighted Türkiye’s role in the Black Sea Grain Initiative and hosting Russian-Ukrainian peace talks and emphasised diplomacy and dialogue as the path to resolving crises, noting that “there are no winners in war and no losers in a fair peace.”
