Cooperation deal signed with SCO

ALMATY - Anatolia News Agency

FM Davutoğlu (R) shows signed documents with the organization. REUTERS photo

Turkey signed a cooperation agreement with the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) in the Kazakh capital of Almaty on April 26. The agreement is based on cooperation in various domains from security to transportation between SCO and Turkey, which is a “dialogue partner” of the organization.

Turkey’s “dialogue partnership” status was determined during the SCO Summit in June 2012. Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu and the organization’s secretary-general, Dmitri Mezentsev, both hailed the agreement during the signing ceremony.

“Now we declare that Turkey also shares the same fate as Shanghai Cooperation Organization countries.

We are thankful for being accepted as a member of this family,” Davutoğlu said. “This is only a start.

Maybe [it only seems like] a complementation of a process but [in fact] it is the start of a long way we will walk together hand by hand. This is our point of view on the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, and we will move in this direction,” he continued.

The foreign minister said this cooperation would strengthen Turkey’s ties with the organization, primarily in the domains of economy and transportation and that it would provide the opportunity to cope together with dangers that threaten the member countries.

Mezentsev, for his part, said this day was not only important for Turkey but also for the organization.

The secretary-general emphasized that from economy to security, from education to health, Turkey would make a great contribution to the organization.