DAccording to President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, NATO member Turkey wants to join the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), whose largest members are China and Russia. According to Turkey’s state-run Anadolu news agency, Erdogan said on Saturday after the organization’s summit in Samarkand, Uzbekistan, that Turkey intended to discuss membership goals at the group’s meeting in India next year.

Turkey has “historical and cultural” connections to the Asian continent and wants to play a role in the organization, whose members together make up “30 percent of global economic output,” Erdogan said. Turkey is currently listed as a dialogue partner by the Shanghai organization. In terms of accession, Turkey will be the first member of the group that is also part of NATO’s western defense alliance.

Founded in 2001 to fight terrorism, the group includes China, Russia, India, Pakistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan. Iran, which, like Belarus and Mongolia, previously had observer status, was also welcomed to the latest summit. The process of accepting Belarus, considered the “last dictatorship in Europe”, also began.

Erdogan accused NATO and the European Union, of which Turkey has had candidate status since 1999, of not making significant progress, of a lack of support for Turkey. Turkey and Russia, in turn, have common interests and good relations on several fronts – although Ankara condemns Moscow’s attack on Ukraine. Turkey has recently tried to mediate between the warring parties, for example over the issue of Ukraine’s grain exports across the Black Sea.