Azernews.Az

Ankara wants to become an "observer member state" in the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) as part of "Turkey's multilateral diplomacy," Foreign Ministry spokesman Selcuk Unal said on Thursday, Trend news agency reported referring to Today`s Zaman newspaper.

Ünal, in his last press briefing as the ministry spokesman, said that Turkey is already a "dialogue partner" of the Russian and Chinese-led group and that joining every international organization, becoming an observer state or following their activities is fundamental to Turkey's "multilateral diplomacy."

As Turkey and the European Union have failed to make substantial progress in accession talks, Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan resurrected the possible membership in the SCO, saying Turkey is seriously considering becoming part of the organization, which he considers an alternative at a time when the EU's future looks increasingly dim.

The SCO is a mutual-security organization which was founded in 2001 in Shanghai by the leaders of China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan. The other countries, with the exception of Uzbekistan, had been members of the Shanghai Five, founded in 1996; after the inclusion of Uzbekistan in 2001, the members renamed the organization.

Ünal added that Turkey is already attending the organization's meetings, stressing that Ankara wants to upgrade its status by becoming an observer member state and advance cooperation with the SCO.