Following President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s statement that Turkey could become a member of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) instead of the European Union (EU), the SCO debate has been dominated by the Eurasian Economic Union (EEU) as the real “EU equivalent”.
Close observers say, “The SCO can be compared to NATO as a security-based agreement to some extent, though not completely. But if the EU’s counterpart is meant to be a Eurasian platform to act together with Russia, then the Eurasian Economic Union (EEU) should be understood.”
Erdoğan had brought the issue to the agenda with the following words:
“For example, I say, “Why shouldn’t Turkey be in the Shanghai 5?” I said this to Mr. Putin, Nazarbayev and those who are currently in the Shanghai 5. The Shanghai Cooperation Organization, which was initially established by 5 countries, later included countries such as Uzbekistan, Pakistan and India. Iran also wants to join. Mr. Putin also used an expression like “We are evaluating this”. I hope that if there is a positive development there, in other words, I think that Turkey’s inclusion in the Shanghai 5 will enable it to act much more easily in this regard.”
Onur Erem from BBC Turkish analyzed the issue based on expert opinions and made the following assessment in his article:
“The EU has a binding acquis communautaire on economics, politics, security and human rights, a parliament with legislative power represented by parliamentarians from member states, a court, an anthem and a flag used alongside the flags of all member states, but the SCO does not have these. The EU has free movement of people, capital and goods between its member states, but the SCO does not. The EU can also sign free trade agreements with other countries, while SCO members do not even have free trade agreements among themselves.
The Asian organization that is more similar to the EU than the SCO is the Eurasian Economic Union (EEU). Russia, Kazakhstan, Armenia, Belarus and Kyrgyzstan are members of the EEU, which allows free movement of people, capital and goods.
In 2013, “Turkey is a NATO member and one of the closest allies of the United States. It is not possible for SCO members to accept Turkey as a full member under these conditions,” Sergey Markov, an advisor to Russian President Vladimir Putin, said in 2013, adding that Turkey could therefore become a member of the EEU, not the SCO.
Kazakhstan’s leader Nursultan Nazarbayev also invited Turkey to join the EEU in 2014.”
PUTIN ALSO MENTIONED IT
In late December 2014, Russian President Vladimir Putin, President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko, President of Kyrgyzstan Almazbek Atambayev, President of Kazakhstan Nursultan Nazarbayev and President of Armenia Serzh Sargsyan met at the meeting of the Eurasian Economic Supreme Council at the Kremlin Palace.
Speaking at the meeting, Russian President Putin said: “Of course, it would not be right to stop at the point reached. We have new big goals for the future.” Pointing out that other countries are also interested in the union, Putin continued, “We have reached the final stage of preparation for the free trade agreement project with Vietnam. Similar agreements are being worked out with Turkey, India and Israel,” Putin said.
Russia’s official news agency Sputnik commented on these remarks as follows:
“Turkey has previously raised the possibility of cooperation or membership in the Eurasian Economic Union. At first, this was perceived as an attempt to pressure the EU to speed up Turkey’s EU accession process. But then Ankara started to take a more pragmatic approach. Turkey refused to join the anti-Russian sanctions imposed over the crisis in Ukraine and announced its readiness to expand trade and economic cooperation with Russia and use national currencies for mutual payments. On December 1, during Russian President Putin’s visit to Turkey, it was announced that the South Stream pipeline would be rerouted through Turkey. Moreover, cooperation with the Eurasian Economic Union will open up great opportunities for Turkey in the commercial-economic sphere. Turkish businessmen will be able to conduct their activities according to international trade conditions. It is also important that the members of the Eurasian Union do not demand Turkey to choose between the EU and the Eurasian Economic Union. In the future, the two unions will definitely have to cooperate. All this will be reflected in the roadmap for Turkey’s cooperation with the Eurasian Economic Union.”
HISTORY
The legal foundation of the Eurasian Economic Union (EEU) was laid with a treaty signed by the leaders of Belarus, Kazakhstan and Russia on May 29, 2014, as a result of the idea of a “common market” first voiced by Kazakh leader Nazarayev in 1994. The treaty including Armenia in the EEU was signed on October 9, 2014. The Union was officially established on January 1, 2015. Kyrgyzstan’s full membership in the Eurasian Union also became effective as of May 1, 2015. Thus, these countries entered into a duty-free “common market”.
Shanghai Cooperation Organization in five questions
Onur Erem compiled this report for BBC Turkish:
- What is the Shanghai Cooperation Organization?
The SCO is a regional cooperation organization. With security as its main area of cooperation, the SCO was first established in 1996 by China, Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan as the “Shanghai Five”. After Uzbekistan joined in 2001, it changed its name to the Shanghai Cooperation Organization.
The international structure of the organization includes the Council of Heads of State and the Council of Heads of Government, which meet regularly, as well as structures such as the secretariat, the Regional Anti-Terrorism Structure, and the Council of Foreign Ministers.
The secretariat of the organization is located in Beijing, the capital of China, while the “Regional Anti-Terrorism Structure” is located in Tashkent, the capital of Uzbekistan.
Today, the organization has 6 members, 6 observers and 6 “dialogue partners”.
The observers are Afghanistan, Belarus, India, Iran, Iran, Mongolia and Pakistan.
Pakistan, which applied for membership in 2006, and India, which applied for membership in 2014, are expected to become members of the SCO in 2017.
The organization’s dialogue partners are Armenia, Azerbaijan, Cambodia, Nepal, Sri Lanka and Turkey.
The six SCO member states account for about a quarter of the world’s population.
When observers and dialogue partners are added to this, the SCO includes about half of the world’s population.
The 6 SCO member states account for about a quarter of the world’s population.
- For what purpose was it established?
The SCO, an intergovernmental organization, was founded by China and Russia to cooperate on security in Asia.
One of the organization’s security concerns was Islamist organizations and drug trafficking in Central Asia.
To counter these, SCO members exchange intelligence, conduct joint military exercises, and extradite “criminals” to each other.
The organization is a means of coordinating Russia and China’s policies towards Central Asia. It is not a military alliance.
According to Bates Gill, former director of the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, its creation was motivated by Russia and China’s desire to act jointly against possible US intervention in Asia. In an article for the Brookings Institution, Gill said that the agreements signed by the organization’s member states “oppose interference in the internal affairs of other countries on the grounds of ‘humanitarian intervention’ or ‘protecting human rights’ and that countries help each other with security issues.”
Is the Shanghai Cooperation Organization a rival to the West?
Sacha Koulaeva, Director for Eastern Europe and Central Asia at the International Federation for Human Rights, describes the SCO as a “closed club of authoritarian countries”.
“The secret services of one country can enter other countries unhindered, even with the help of the security forces of the country they enter, and take back people they deem ‘criminals’,” she said.
- How is it different from the EU?
While the European Union is a supra-governmental organization above the member states, the SCO is an intergovernmental organization for cooperation.
The EU has a binding acquis on economics, politics, security and human rights, a parliament with legislative power represented by parliamentarians from member states, a court, an anthem and a flag used alongside the flags of all member states, whereas the SCO does not. The EU has free movement of people, capital and goods between its member states, but the SCO does not. The EU can also sign free trade agreements with other countries, while SCO members do not even have free trade agreements among themselves.
The Asian organization that is more similar to the EU than the SCO is the Eurasian Economic Union (EEU). Russia, Kazakhstan, Armenia, Belarus and Kyrgyzstan are members of the EEU, which allows free movement of people, capital and goods.
In 2013, “Turkey is a NATO member and one of the closest allies of the United States. It is not possible for SCO members to accept Turkey as a full member under these conditions,” said Sergey Markov, an advisor to Russian President Vladimir Putin, adding that Turkey could therefore become a member of the EEU, not the SCO.
Kazakhstan’s leader Nursultan Nazarbayev also invited Turkey to join the EEU in 2014.
- Why is it on Turkey’s agenda?
Turkey became a dialogue partner of the SCO in 2013 after applying in 2011.
Since then, both as prime minister and as president, President Erdoğan has repeatedly stated that he would withdraw his application for full membership in the EU in exchange for Turkey’s acceptance as a member of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization.
Most recently, Erdoğan said last week, “Turkey should feel comfortable. It should not say, ‘For me, the European Union is all I have. For example, I say, ‘Why shouldn’t Turkey be in the Shanghai Five?’ I hope that if there is a positive development there, I think that Turkey’s participation in the Shanghai Five will enable it to act much more comfortably in this regard.”
- Can it be an alternative to the EU for Turkey?
Can the SCO be an alternative to the EU for Turkey?
According to Can Baydarol, Vice President of the European Union and Global Studies Association, the answer to this question is “No”.
Baydarol says that the EU is an integration process of its own, while the SCO is a political rather than economic organization that could be an alternative to NATO. “Erdoğan’s message on this issue is not about the SCO as an alternative to the EU, but about Erdoğan’s search for an alternative to the Western world, and he is bringing NATO into the discussion,” Baydarol says.
Recalling Erdoğan’s harsh messages to alliance members at the NATO Parliamentary Assembly meeting today, Baydarol said, “It is very, very difficult for Turkey to abandon integration with the West and take the path of SCO membership. Turkey’s economy is integrated with the West. It is unlikely that Turkey will be able to find an alternative in the short term, especially in such a conjuncture,” Baydarol warns.
Baydarol believes there are risks for Turkey in sending such messages at a time of escalating tensions between NATO and Russia:
“Russia and NATO are turning their guns on each other in Ukraine. If Turkey falls into Russia’s camp, the West will turn its guns on Turkey.”
Baydarol said that the European Union acquis does not allow an EU member to become a member of the SCO, and that there are legal and technical obstacles in this regard. “If you are in the Western world, you cannot be side by side with China and Russia,” he said.
Sadık Ünay, Director of Economic Research at the Foundation for Political, Economic and Social Research (SETA), sees the SCO as an important balancing factor for Turkey against the EU both politically and economically.
Stating that the SCO is not a clear political alternative to the EU, Ünay says, “Since the SCO represents the rising Asia in terms of energy security and logistical connections, it represents a trajectory in which the main axis of the world system is shifting because it includes the rising powers of the world economy.”
According to Ünay, at a time when Turkey-EU relations are deteriorating, it is understandable for Turkey, as a rising economy, to develop close relations with other economies:
“There are both economic and political problems with the EU. The current structure of the Customs Union prevents Turkey from designing its foreign policy as it wishes.
“Politically, the EU’s recent statements on the fight against terrorism and the refugee problem are far from Turkey’s expectations.
“Moreover, the far right is on the rise on the continent, and anti-Turkey, anti-Erdogan and Islamophobic attitudes are on the rise”.
“Turkey can become a member of the SCO without cutting ties with the EU,” Ünay says, adding that Turkey’s SCO membership would be a balancing act, not a complete abandonment of the European anchor and a shift of axis towards the east:
“Turkey-EU relations will always continue in some form. But Turkey also needs such openings in terms of access to markets in Asia.”
Source:www.turkrus.com
