Erdoğan meets Xi, others at his first SCO summit

Photos: AA

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan held talks yesterday (September 15) with the leaders attending the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) summit in Samarkand, Uzbekistan.

Erdogan visited newly built areas of the city together with other summit participants.

He spoke with his Presidents Vladimir Putin of Russia, Ebrahim Raisi of Iran, Ilham Aliyev of Azerbaijan, Emomali Rahmon of Tajikistan, Aleksandr Lukashenko of Belarus and other leaders in the Eternal City.

Before the city tour, Erdogan attended a sapling planting ceremony.

Today, Erdoğan met his counterpart from China, Xi Jinping.

The two leaders' closed-door meeting took place on the sidelines of the summit. No further information on the meeting was released.

Erdogan is attending the 22nd Meeting of the Council of Heads of State of the SCO as a "special guest," with Türkiye taking part at the presidential level for the first time since Ankara obtained SCO dialogue partner status in 2012.

Later, he is expected to address the second session of the summit and hold bilateral meetings with leaders including his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin.

On the sidelines of the summit, Erdogan also held a closed-door meeting with Mongolian President Ukhnaagiin Khurelsukh. (VK)