Baku, Azerbaijan, July 31
By Rufiz Hafizoglu - Trend:
Turkey should not miss the chance to become a full member of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), researcher of the Turkish Foundation for Political, Economic and Social Research assitant SETA Salihe Kaya told Trend July 31.
She said that taking into account the geographical location of Turkey, one can say that it has become an energy hub between the countries supplying energy resources and the West.
"Turkey has serious potential to become a trading hub in the region, Ankara should take advantage of it, and the SCO provides country the perfect opportunities," said Kaya.
The expert believes that Turkey's full membership in the SCO can lead to very serious increase in the country's economy, since China is the second country after Russia among exporters to Turkey.
On the results of 2014, China exported to Turkey goods worth $24.9 billion, according to the Turkish Statistics Institute (TUİK).
Kaya also believes that Turkey's aspiration for full membership in the SCO does not mean that Turkey should give up negotiations on EU membership.
"Economic problems in several European countries, particularly in Greece, should not frighten Turkey having become a barrier to join the EU," she said. "Turkey, along with negotiations for the full membership in the SCO should conduct parallel negotiations with the EU."
Ankara's negotiations on the accession to the EU were resumed in 2005.
Turkey intends to become a full member of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), the Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said during a visit to China July 30.
He said that after India and Pakistan decided to join the SCO, this structure has got a special importance for Turkey.
The heads of the SCO member states, during a meeting July 9-10 in Ufa, Russia, signed documents providing Azerbaijan with the status of the SCO dialogue partner.
For the first time in the SCO's 15-year history, during the summit of the heads of state in Russia's Ufa, it was decided to increase the number of its participants. Documents were signed to start a procedure for accession of India and Pakistan, and Belarus got its status upgraded to that of the observer.
The SCO includes Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, China, Russia, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan. Afghanistan, India, Iran, Mongolia and Pakistan are the SCO observer states.
Sri Lanka and Turkey also have the dialogue partner status.
Edited by CN
---
Follow the author on Twitter: @rhafizoglu