Speaking at the 22nd Meeting of the Council of Heads of State of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, Erdoğan said: “Our country’s position as a bridge between the east and the west offers us unparalleled opportunities. With this understanding, we stand ready for cooperation in every area, from security, economy and energy to transportation, agriculture and tourism. We will continue to contribute to the ongoing political and economic processes within the Shanghai Cooperation Organization.”

Thanking President Shavkat Mirziyoyev of Uzbekistan for his hospitality and congratulating Iran on its membership to the Organization, Erdoğan said: “As the far-western Asian and the far-eastern European, Türkiye has an exceptional location. We have thousands-year-long social, cultural and political ties with Asia. With our Asia Anew initiative, which we proclaimed in 2019, we have been working to strengthen our relations with Asia, our fatherland, in every area. We see the Shanghai Cooperation Organization as Asia’s climate of tolerance and ancient culture based on producing common solutions to problems.”

“We will elevate our cooperation to much higher levels through our joint efforts”

Noting that Türkiye attached importance to enhancing its relations with the SCO, Erdoğan stated: “Thanks to our status of ‘dialogue partner’ for the last decade, the SCO has become one of our doors opening to Asia. We had assumed the term presidency of the CSO’s High-Level Group on Energy in 2017, and held the 3rd High-Level Group Meeting in Ankara accordingly. That a non-member country performed such a duty was an unprecedented practice within the Organization. The responsibility we shouldered showed how much the relations between Türkiye and the SCO enhanced. I believe we will elevate our cooperation to much higher levels through our joint efforts from now on as well.

Underscoring that problems as well as opportunities were being globalized, Erdoğan said: “We are faced with many challenges such as climate change, pandemic, energy and food supply security, terrorism, animosity towards foreigners and Islam, racism, irregular migration, economic recession and setbacks in supply chains. Only through a global understanding of cooperation and understanding can we overcome these challenges.”

“We rank first in humanitarian aid in ratio to national income”

Pointing out that Türkiye had provided aid to 161 countries and 12 international organization within the fight against coronavirus, Erdoğan said: “We put TURKOVAC, our national and domestically-produced vaccine which we developed with our own means, at the disposal of all those in need.”

Stressing that Türkiye had been hosting over 4 million displaced people, nearly 3.7 million of whom were Syrians under temporary protection, Erdoğan continued as follows: “With over 8-million-dollar worth of humanitarian aid we have made, we rank first in the world in ratio to national income. We are proud of holding the title of ‘the world’s most generous country’ by allocating almost 1 per cent our gross national income to humanitarian aid. Saying, ‘the World is Bigger than Five,’ we draw attention to the fact that the order built following the World War II has lost its capacity to resolve crises. While emphasizing the need for a reform in the global system, we work to establish a

fairer, more inclusive and more effective order with a much higher representation capacity. And while doing this, we make every effort in order for peace, security, stability and prosperity to prevail in our region and beyond.”

“We exert intensive efforts in order for the conflicts in Ukraine to be brought to an end”

“Our aim is to create an environment of peace in our region and beyond in a spirit of enterprising diplomacy which focusses on human and humanitarian values,” Erdoğan stated, and went on to say: “In this regard, we exert intensive efforts in order for the conflicts in Ukraine to be brought to an end through diplomacy. We maintain a fruitful cooperation with the United Nations and the parties for the shipment of the Ukrainian grain. We also exert sincere efforts in order for the grain to be delivered to those who need it the most, particularly our brothers and sisters in Africa.”

Noting that terrorism had no borders and adversely affected all the countries, Erdoğan said: “Türkiye is a country which has sacrificed tens of thousands of its citizens to terrorist organizations and which knows well the brutality of terror. Although we have been left alone most of the time in our nearly 40-year-long fight against separatist terror, we maintain our fight with determination against terrorism in all its forms and manifestations, including PKK-PYD-YPG, FETO and DAESH. We stand ready to further strengthen our dialogue with the Shanghai Cooperation Organization regarding the issues concerning our mutual security.

Stressing that one of the most important dimensions of security in ensuring continuity in supply chains, Erdoğan noted: “We support the efforts aimed at global food security, through our initiatives within the G20 in particular. The importance of strengthening the connection between the East and the West for the continuity of global supply chains has now become more visible. It is obvious that the initiative which we call “Central Corridor” serves as an important artery along the Caucasus, the Central Asia and the People’s Republic of China line, and plays a significant role in the establishment of prosperity and stability in our region and beyond.”

“Our country’s position as a bridge between the East and the West offers us unparalleled opportunities”

“With its giant investments in transportation and infrastructure in the past two decades, Türkiye has achieved a great success in this area,” Erdoğan stated, and added: “Our country’s position as a bridge between the east and the west offers us unparalleled opportunities. With this understanding, we stand ready for cooperation in every area, from security, economy and energy to transportation, agriculture and tourism. We will continue to contribute to the ongoing political and economic processes within the Shanghai Cooperation Organization.” (ILKHA)