Azernews.Az

By Aynur Karimova

Russian President Vladimir Putin has announced that Azerbaijan, Cambodia, Nepal and Armenia are joining the Shanghai Cooperation Organization as partners, RIA Novosti reported.

“Azerbaijan, Armenia, Cambodia and Nepal are joining the SCO family as partners in dialogue,” Putin said at an opening ceremony of the expanded meeting of SCO Council of Heads of State on July 10.

Putin also noted that a number of countries show interest in joining the organization as well. “Taking into account the relevant requirements, we will thoroughly review their applications.”

In his remarks, Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev said Azerbaijan, Armenia, Belarus, Turkey and Iran have expressed desire to cooperate with SCO and their applications should be reviewed.

“I suppose that all these states deserve support,” RIA Novosti quoted Nazarbayev as saying.

Chinese President Xi Jinping also greeted the participation of Azerbaijan, Armenia, Belarus, Cambodia and Nepal in the SCO.

"We also welcome the participation of Belarus as an observer country of the organization and Azerbaijan, Armenia, Cambodia, Nepal, as partners in dialogue," he said.

The SCO is a permanent intergovernmental organization founded on June 15, 2001 by the leaders of Kazakhstan, China, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan. SCO Summit is being held in Ufa, Russia, on July 8-10, 2015.

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Aynur Karimova is AzerNews’ staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @Aynur_Karimova

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