Shanghai Cooperation OrganizationThe Summit of Heads of State begins today. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has arrived in Astana, the capital of Kazakhstan, for the summit. Erdoğan was welcomed at Nursultan Nazarbayev International Airport by Kazakh Prime Minister Oljas Bektenov, Kazakh Minister of Health Akmaral Alnazarova, Kazakh Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Alibek Bakayev, Astana Mayor Jenis Kasımbek, and Turkish Ambassador to Astana Mustafa Kapucu. President Erdoğan is accompanied by his wife Emine Erdoğan, Minister of Foreign Affairs Hakan Fidan, Minister of Energy and Natural Resources Alparslan Bayraktar, Minister of Treasury and Finance Mehmet Şimşek, Minister of Trade Ömer Bolat, Chief Advisor to the President on Foreign Policy and Security Ambassador Akif Çağatay Kılıç, and Deputy Director of Communications Çağatay Özdemir. Erdoğan will address the participants at the Summit Session to be held tomorrow.
Important Topics to be Discussed
All eyes will be on the Erdoğan-Putin meeting. It is reported that President Erdoğan will meet with Russian President Putin on the first day of the summit. The agenda of the meeting will include many topics from energy to trade, from bilateral relations to regional and global issues. Erdoğan is expected to emphasize the importance of the fight against terrorism in Syria. He is also expected to speak at the summit meeting as Turkey’s “dialogue partner” to address the situation in Gaza.
Heads of State and Government from 16 Countries Participate
The summit will be attended by heads of state and government from 16 countries, including China, Russia and Iran. The main theme of the summit has been determined as “Strengthening Multilateral Dialogue: Striving for Sustainable Peace and Development”. Strengthening the role of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization in finding solutions to international problems will be a priority on the agenda. Issues such as regional security, infrastructure, energy, transportation and logistics will also be discussed at the summit. It is stated that the leaders will focus particularly on international trade and economic issues. At the end of the summit, Kazakhstan will hand over the presidency to China.
Erdogan-Putin Meeting
The bilateral meeting between Turkish President Erdoğan and Russian President Vladimir Putin scheduled for today will take place just a week before a critical NATO summit. This meeting will be closely followed by all Western countries, especially the allies, because the impact of the issues to be discussed during the summit on regional and global relations is of great importance.
