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Turkey's relations with Russia, China don't mean turning its back on the West, Erdogan says
Yahoo • • world
Key Points:
- Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan emphasized that Turkey's pursuit of deeper ties with the East, including seeking full membership in the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), does not mean distancing from the West.
- At the SCO summit in Kyrgyzstan, Erdogan held a one-on-one meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin, discussing further nuclear cooperation between the two countries.
- Erdogan expressed hope for a peaceful resolution to the Russia-Ukraine war and highlighted the need for a permanent mechanism to ensure maritime security in the Black Sea to protect commercial shipping and prevent a resurgence of the grain crisis.
- Turkey played a key role in brokering a 2022 grain deal that reopened Ukrainian ports and facilitated Russian food and fertilizer exports, crucial for global food supplies, though Russia withdrew from the agreement a year later.
- The SCO, which includes major Eurasian countries like Russia, China, India, and Iran, is seen as a growing bloc that could counterbalance U.S. global influence, despite its goals and programs remaining somewhat unclear.
