Erdogan made his remarks on Sunday, juxtaposing the SCO and the
European Union. "Turkey should first of all feel relaxed about the EU
and not be fixated" on joining the organization, he said. "Some may
criticize me but I express my opinion. For example, I have said 'why
shouldn't Turkey be in the Shanghai 5?'" the president asked, referring
to the SCO.
Dr. Emre Ersen, associate professor at Marmara University's
Department of Political Science and International Relations, noted that
these blocs should not be viewed as "alternative".
"Although Turkey currently has numerous problems with the European
Union, I think we should firstly emphasize that the Shanghai Cooperation
Organization (SCO) is not a political or economic union. It is a
platform where the security concerns are discussed on a collective
basis. It is mainly led by the security dialogue between Russia and
China. Therefore, it can't really offer a viable alternative to the EU
in Turkish foreign policy," he explained.
Turkey's relations with the Shanghai Cooperation Organization are
already close. Ankara has been a dialogue partner of the organization
since 2013. In fact, Turkey is the only NATO country which has "a clear
institutional relationship" with the SCO, as the analyst put it, adding
that it is often viewed as "a bridge between the two rival
organizations."
Erdogan and the Turkish government are interested in fostering closer ties with the SCO for two main reasons.
The real appeal of the Eurasian organization for Ankara "comes from the
fact that Turkey has recently developed very close political and
economic relations with Russia, but also other [SCO members] such as
China and India," the analyst noted. In addition, Turkey has good
relations with Central Asian nations that are part of the SCO, namely
Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan.
Furthermore, Turkey "wants to follow a more independent path in its
foreign policy" which will see its leadership maintain ties with the
European Union and NATO, but also pursue cooperation with the SCO.To an extent this could be explained by Ankara's strained relations
with Brussels due to the unsuccessful putsch, the refugee crisis and
Turkey's stalled EU membership process.
President Erdogan and the Turkish government are "extremely
disappointed in the EU mainly because of their official position towards
the failed coup attempt that took place in Turkey on July 15," the
analyst noted. "I think current rhetoric of President Erdogan towards
the EU actually reflects this disappointment very clearly."
For its part, Russia was quick in voicing its support for the Turkish
leadership at a time when Ankara and Istanbul were in turmoil.
Turkey is important to the SCO because "it is one of the main
political and economic players in Eurasia," the analyst said. The
organization could well view a shift in Turkey's foreign policy towards
greater engagement with Moscow and Beijing as "a very significant
achievement."