The last summit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization was held in Uzbekistan last week, and President Recep Tayyip Erdogan attended the meeting as a special guest in the dialogue as the representative of Turkey.
In fact;
Turkey has been joining this meeting as a dialogue partner since 2012, but the presence of certain conditions at the global level made Turkey's participation this year even more important.
The state of war that began with Russia's attack on Ukraine brought the whole world under its influence, and today we are witnessing the formation of a new polar equilibrium in the world.
Therefore, Turkey's participation, as both a member of NATO and a candidate member of the European Union, is of great importance.
There is no cooperation between the members of this organization in the military, political or ideological fields of defense, but cooperation is limited to the purely economic field, and there is no need to move away from democracy just because of the emergence of a relationship with this organization that does not impose any conditions on its members, whether in The field of democracy or human rights, in addition to the fact that most of its members are from non-democratic countries.
In fact;
Turkey has succeeded in maintaining its dialogue with all parties, and thanks to this, Turkey presents the greatest opportunity for peace. Erdogan's good relations with Putin hinder the wide and rapid spread of the impact of the war at the global level, and may also create an important opportunity for dialogue.
In the process of searching for new balances of power;
There is debate over whether Turkey's participation in the Shanghai Cooperation Organization means Ankara's abandonment of the Western bloc.
Furthermore it;
Erdogan's statement on the questions that the European Union has been procrastinating Turkey for 50 years, and that this prompted it to search for alternatives, has increased fears of this kind;
One of the photos of this meeting, in which Erdogan is standing among the leaders and everyone looks very happy, has raised such questions even more, and the comments on this photo have exceeded the real assessments of the organization.
Or not;
It must be seen that the president's dialogue with other world leaders and the body language of that photograph is actually far ahead of his actual efficacy in Shanghai.
naturally;
We cannot say, based on the picture we are talking about, that Turkey is in a position to get the leaders of all countries to agree to what it wants.
Despite all the dialogues and good relations with the Russian leader who is sitting there on his humble chair, no concessions can be obtained from him - even for the benefit of humanity - regarding the massacres he is carrying out with the regime in Syria.
He does what he likes there, and Turkey is in a state of turmoil from this situation on many fronts.
Turkey refused Russia's annexation of the Crimea from the beginning, and confronted it with this every time, and demanded an end to this occupation.
By the same token;
Turkey rejects Russia's attack on and occupation of Ukraine, and although Turkey does not follow the same policy as the Western bloc, it takes its place in the same bloc.
We have many disagreements with the President of Iran - who attended that summit - as a result of the dangerous instability caused by his sectarian policies in Lebanon, Iraq and Yemen, and his explicit support for the Armenians in Karabakh, in which the Armenian occupation ended, while the same differences continue with him. on the Syrian scene.
Of course, no one thinks to limit this summit to that image, especially with the increasing policies of discrimination and racism towards Muslims in India - the most democratic country at the top - and the injustice suffered by the Turks under the leadership of the Chinese President who was also present there.
In light of the great problems these countries face among themselves - not to mention the problems in their relations with Turkey - the only cooperation that can arise with these countries at the current stage will be in the economic field only.
On the contrary;
China and Russia - as the largest partners in the organization - do not hide the competition between them, in addition to their cooperation in many fields.
There is no cooperation between the members of this organization in the military, political or ideological fields of defense, but cooperation is limited to the purely economic field, and there is no need to move away from democracy just because of the establishment of a relationship with this organization that does not impose any conditions on its members, whether in the field of Democracy or human rights, in addition to the fact that most of its members are from non-democratic countries.
In this regard;
The SCO has no advantage in being an alternative to the European Union or NATO.
Turkey, which over the years has linked its interests to diversity in foreign policy;
This does not mean that it will give up its EU membership application to establish a relationship with the Shanghai Cooperation Organization. Perhaps this relationship shows that Turkey does not really lack options, and the presence of these options must ultimately increase Turkey's value to the European Union;
It can emerge as a stronger and contributing candidate to the European Union through its participation in all non-EU formations.
The Shanghai Organization may make an additional contribution to the field of economic relations with the European Union, but it will not constitute a substitute for it, and let us not forget that even in economic terms, Turkey still carries out the largest and most stable part of its trade with the countries of the European Union.
This can be explained in several ways, but although relations with the SCO countries seem to mark an indispensable path into the world of the future, there is no reason to believe that this would require Turkey to abandon its path of democratization.
Beside that;
Turkey no longer feels attached to the European Union or the United States on the issue of democratization;
The claim that we will move forward on the path of democratization if we are near the United States of America and the European Union is nothing but a myth in the minds of those who relate to the West. The European Union and the United States do not support or promote democracy in countries other than their own.
We find that behind all coups and dictatorships in the Islamic world are collaborators with the West, and therefore the biggest obstacle to democratic transformation is the countries of the West themselves, and to what extent will it be revealed after the support received by terrorist organizations against democracy in Turkey recently, whether from the United States of America or from the Union countries European?
Is there still something incomprehensible or not seen?
though;
Turkey must insist on democratization and human rights with its own will and motives, and the only driving force that Turkey needs must be the fact that the Turkish nation is more than worthy, and that this merit does not need to beg for support or even impetus from those related to the West.