By Janet Ekstract
ISTANBUL- Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan flew to New York immediately after attending the 22nd Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) Summit in Uzbekistan, arriving on the weekend. While in Samarkand, Erdogan had a series of official meetings on the sidelines of the SCO Summit where he was invited as a special guest. His meetings included discussions with the presidents of Azerbaijan, Pakistan, Russia, Tajikistan, Belarus, Iran and China. Erdogan and Putin met privately for a discussion where both leaders discussed the ongoing grain export deal. Erdogan also met the president of Mongolia and spoke at a packed session of the SCO. The Turkish leader referred to his country’s position as a bridge between East and West that offered nations a broad range of opportunities. One of the Turkish leader’s goals is to create deeper bilateral ties with SCO members and experts say that the Turkish leader perhaps wants to join the SCO as well.
Meanwhile, Erdogan is in New York to attend the 77th UN General Assembly session as well as to meet with representatives of Turkish NGOs based in the U.S. The Turkish leader will also attend a dinner organized by the Turkish-American National Steering Committee on Sunday. Erdogan will speak at the UN General Assembly on September 20 and is expected to have bilateral talks with a variety of heads of states and governments. He will also hold talks with the executives of international organizations in New York City and is slated to attend a reception hosted by President Joe Biden in honor of the heads of delegations.
