At the 2008 Dushanbe Summit, a new mechanism was established under the name of “SCO Dialogue Partnership Status” in order to establish an institutional framework for relations with third countries and international organizations that want to establish contact with the SCO and are not observers. Dialogue Partnership status allows third countries that do not have observer status to cooperate with the Organization in limited areas in certain areas. The status in question is below the “observer country” status and above the “guest participants” status in terms of the degree of institutional ties. Turkish foreign policy is dominated by conservative dynamics and the decision-making mechanism is based on more national and conservative religious elements.
There are those who think that the geostrategic and geopolitical goals that Turkey should pursue for Central Asia are not just a bridge function (transporting the energy resources of the region to the West via Turkey).
There are those who argue that incentives for Turkey’s national energy company TPAO and domestic energy companies in Turkey to explore and extract energy reserves in Central Asia should be further increased. Turkish energy companies are making different efforts to continue in Central Asia similar to the work they have carried out with Western companies in Northern Iraq, the Black Sea and the Mediterranean.
Although activities for the production of renewable energy resources (such as wind, solar, and water potential) in this region are not carried out intensively by Turkish companies, there are efforts in this regard. Considering the intensity of hydraulic energy potential in Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan, it is believed that the construction of hydroelectric power plant projects in these two countries will be accelerated. (Budak, 2013: 139). Although the total geographical area covered by the current members and observers of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization is 37 million square kilometres, this organization constitutes approximately 74% of Eurasia (Yardımcıoğlu and Koçarslan, 2012: 167).
In addition, Iran and Russia, the two richest countries in the world in terms of gas reserves, are important within the Organization. Considering that the production and transfer of energy is of great importance in ensuring the energy security of states in the world, it can be seen that Iran and Russia, which are very rich in energy reserves, have a major role in ensuring the energy security of other states.
In order for states to achieve sustainable growth and development, the energy needed must be supplied from uninterrupted, safe sources and routes. In this case, it is understood that energy security and national development (national security) are directly proportional. In addition, within the SCO, not only the Russia-Iran duo is rich in energy reserves, but also Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan are rich in oil and gas reserves. It has been stated by many economists 3466 MANAS Journal of Social Studies that in recent years, there has been stagnation in the development rates and sustainable progress of the economies of the countries in the Western bloc (such as the USA and the EU). On the other hand, it is seen that the world’s economic axis, indexed to growth and development, is shifting from the Western bloc to the Eastern and/or Eurasian axis. In general, the countries with the highest annual growth rates are China and India. When we look at the annual growth rates of the developing Turkish Republics in the Eurasian region, the annual growth rates of these countries are also higher than Western countries. Assuming that the world’s economic centre of gravity has shifted from the West to the East, it is estimated that the SCO will become an increasingly important actor within the framework of international relations in the coming years. Especially after the Second World War, Türkiye followed a policy in line with the Western bloc. In this axis, Turkey has become a member of many organizations such as the UN, the Council of Europe and NATO, and has continued its membership negotiations with the EU until today. While Türkiye continues its intense cooperation with the West; Many problems such as EU membership, the Cyprus issue, the so-called Armenian genocide, and xenophobia towards Turks in Europe have not been solved. In addition, although Turkey is a member of NATO, Turkey states that it has been fighting against terrorism for years and that the necessary political and economic support for Turkey against terrorism has not come from the Western wing. In other words, Türkiye states that it cannot derive sufficient benefit and/or benefit from its close relations with the West. Realizing this, Türkiye started to follow a more multi-dimensional policy, especially since the early 2000s. Although Turkey became a dialogue partner of the SCO in 2012, Turkey’s relations with the SCO members go back many years. Among the SCO members, Turkey has a historical, cultural, religious and linguistic closeness with the Turkish Republic.
However, It is possible for Turkey to use its similarities and closeness with these republics as an advantage and turn it into an opportunity. With these opportunities and possibilities, Turkey can pursue a more active, more constructive and long-term win-win policy with the SCO. In recent years, Turkey’s foreign trade with SCO members has increased. However, this increased foreign trade is generally to the detriment of Turkey. In other words, exports to these countries are low and imports are high. If Turkey wants to increase its influence within the SCO and/or become a member of the SCO, it knows that it would be more advantageous to increase its trade volume with all members of the SCO, starting with the Turkish Republic. However, in order for Turkey to gain political, economic and cultural gain from this, the increasing trade volume must generally be in favour of Turkey.
So the basic principle should be more exports and decreasing imports. Therefore, accelerating technology and brand-oriented production in Turkey’s domestic market may be to Turkey’s benefit. Among the SCO members, the two countries with which Turkey’s foreign trade is approximately balanced are Pakistan and Uzbekistan, and it is also in favour of Kyrgyzstan. However, the volume of foreign trade with these countries is estimated to be at very low levels. Cooperating with a single region or a single country (source) in foreign trade is a great disadvantage in terms of dependency. For this reason, it may be in its favour for Turkey to cooperate with many states on the multi-dimensional policy axis. Turkey’s development of political, economic and cultural cooperation with the Turkic Republics in Central Asia in particular and the SCO in general; is of great importance in terms of finding new markets in developing countries, providing energy supply at more affordable prices, and making direct and indirect investments.
Türkiye was unanimously accepted into the Dialogue Partnership at the SCO Heads of State Summit held in Beijing on 6-7 June 2012. The “Memorandum Concerning the Granting of SCO Dialogue Partner Status to the Republic of Turkey” signed on 26.04.2013 was approved by the Decision of the Council of Ministers dated 01.05.2017 and numbered 2017/10196 and published in the Official Gazette dated 24.05.2017 and numbered 30075. Thus, the domestic law approval process of the said Memorandum in our country has been completed. The document in question envisages the development of cooperation between Dialogue Partner Turkey and the SCO on various issues, especially regional security, the fight against terrorism, the prevention of drug trafficking and organized crime, as well as economic and cultural fields.
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