AT THE SHANGHAI COOPERATION ORGANISATION SUMMIT IN BISHKEK: FROM DIALOGUE IN THE TURKISH LANGUAGE TO A MULTIPOLAR WORLD
Tashkent, Uzbekistan (UzDaily.uz) — During the SCO Summit in Bishkek, the capital of Kyrgyzstan, the brief “water dialogue” between President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev and President of the Islamic Republic of Iran Masoud Pezeshkian can be read as a symbolic yet powerful message, particularly in terms of the two leaders communicating in Turkic varieties without the need for an interpreter.
Aliyev’s recommendation of Istisu, produced in Azerbaijan’s Karabakh region, by referring to the Georgian-origin water in front of Pezeshkian, and Pezeshkian’s humorous response in the same language can be regarded as an important message to the world, beyond political negotiations, in terms of highlighting the bonds of brotherhood between the Azerbaijani Turks with Iranian Turks, who constitute a large part of Iran’s population. At the same time, President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev offering Istisu, produced in the Karabakh region, to President of the Islamic Republic of Iran Masoud Pezeshkian in Turkish can also be interpreted as a subtle message from President Ilham Aliyev to President Masoud Pezeshkian. President Masoud Pezeshkian’s response in Turkish, with a sincere body language, can be regarded as a positive response to the message conveyed by Aliyev.
Along with all this, Pezeshkian’s frequent use of Turkish in the public sphere and political communication in Iran, and his speaking in Turkish at an international summit, stands out as a noteworthy message in terms of the cultural identity of the Iranian Turks, who constitute an important part of Iran, while it can also be assessed that the issue was not merely a moment of diplomatic courtesy.
This natural communication between the two leaders has also formed an image that strengthens the human and cultural foundations of the dialogue that has recently intensified again between Azerbaijan and Iran on issues of border security, transportation, energy and regional stability. This dialogue can also be regarded as the most important message conveyed between the two neighbouring countries in recent times.
Therefore, the few seconds of “water conversation” has become one of the most striking symbolic meanings of the Bishkek Summit in terms of the Turkish language contributing to stability in the region.
Another prominent message of the meeting of the Council of Heads of State of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO), held in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan, was the sincere and informal conversation held between President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, President of Russia Vladimir Putin and President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko between the summit sessions.
During the summit, the cordial images of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, President of Russia Vladimir Putin and President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko, although they do not by themselves produce a binding result from a diplomatic perspective, can be read as an important message in terms of demonstrating Türkiye’s role as a mediator in its peaceful and multidimensional foreign policy in the international arena. This message is also valuable as a symbolic contact demonstrating that Türkiye keeps its channels of communication open with different centres of power. Therefore, this situation does not mean a break in terms of Türkiye’s NATO membership and its relations with the West, but can also be regarded as Ankara’s search to expand multidimensional diplomacy and economic connections in the changing international system without replacing its existing alliance relations with a new bloc preference through its SCO policy.
One of the most important aspects of the Bishkek Summit is that the SCO’s security-centred starting line is gradually being directed towards a broader economic and technological cooperation agenda. According to the Organisation’s official statement, it was reported that, alongside politics and security, trade, investment, energy, industry, the environment, tourism and new technologies were addressed at the summit. The adoption of 28 documents at the end of the meeting and the decision to sign a Memorandum of Understanding between the SCO Secretariat and the African Union Commission demonstrate the Organisation’s tendency to expand not only its cooperation within Eurasia but also its external connections.
At the summit in question, it is seen that China’s approach has been decisive from an economic perspective. It is evident that Xi Jinping has recommended the development of cooperation among SCO countries not only in trade and investment, but also in transportation, energy resources, artificial intelligence, the digital economy, green industry and green mining. China has also announced that it will establish an international AI application cooperation center with SCO countries and create a China-SCO port economic cooperation center in the Chinese port city of Tianjin. This approach reveals that the SCO’s economic agenda is not limited only to raw materials and trade flows, but is expanding towards high technology, digitalisation and new industrial chains. In addition, important agreements have been signed between Kyrgyzstan and China in the fields of investment, transportation and customs, while the development of the China-Kyrgyzstan-Uzbekistan railway, the modernisation of border crossings and the facilitation of trade have been among the prominent areas of focus. This situation demonstrates that Turkestan (Central Asia) is becoming increasingly integrated with China-centred transportation and trade networks.
Among the other important meetings of the summit, the contacts between Azerbaijan and Armenia stand out. During the meeting held in Bishkek between President Ilham Aliyev and Prime Minister of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan, the process of initialling the text of the peace agreement and the joint declaration signed in Washington in 2025 was discussed, while the export of petroleum products from Azerbaijan to Armenia, the transit passage through Azerbaijan to Armenia of grain and other goods originating from third countries, and the development of trade relations between the two countries can be regarded as the economic outcomes of peace. In addition, the implementation of connectivity projects within the scope of the “Trump Route for International Peace and Prosperity (TRIPP)” was brought to the agenda, and these developments demonstrate that transportation corridors between the Caucasus and Turkestan (Central Asia) have gained importance not only as a geopolitical issue but also as a commercial matter.
At the same time, it is observed that the security dimension of the Bishkek Summit remained in the shadow of the renewed direct military confrontation between SCO member Iran and the United States during the summit. Following the United States’ military attack on Iran, Iran’s missile attacks on U.S. bases coinciding with the summit’s messages on a “multipolar world” and regional security can be read as a general message from the United States towards the summit. Along with all this, the fact that Russia and China limited themselves to condemning the attacks against Iran can also be interpreted as indicating that the SCO will remain a mechanism of political solidarity and will not turn into a direct military security guarantee. Therefore, the U.S. attack on Iran during the Bishkek Summit and the condemnatory response of Russia and China to this attack are also important in terms of demonstrating in which direction the SCO’s effectiveness will evolve in the future.
Along with all these developments, while instability in the Strait of Hormuz is exerting direct pressure on oil transportation and energy prices, it is observed that it is pushing Eurasian countries to think more seriously about the security of alternative land and railway routes. For this reason, it is noteworthy that the China–Kyrgyzstan–Uzbekistan railway, transport networks in Turkestan (Central Asia), and new connections developing through the Caucasus are gaining importance not only as development projects but also as strategic instruments against energy and supply-chain risks.
In conclusion, if a brief assessment is to be made of the Bishkek Summit, it is observed that the SCO is progressing towards becoming a multidimensional Eurasian platform that brings different political systems and economic interests together under the same roof, rather than transforming into a NATO-like military alliance in the classical sense. The image formed by the informal contact between Erdoğan, Putin and Lukashenko during the summit can also be read as one of the symbols of this expanding diplomatic space. It is evident that, in the coming period, the weight of the SCO will be determined not only by the economic size of its member countries, but also by the extent to which it can transform the decisions it takes in the fields of transportation, energy, technology and trade into concrete and sustainable mechanisms.
Ahmet Sağlam
