AT THE SHANGHAI COOPERATION ORGANISATION SUMMIT IN BISHKEK: FROM DIALOGUE IN THE TURKISH LANGUAGE TO A MULTIPOLAR WORLD

**AT THE SHANGHAI COOPERATION ORGANISATION SUMMIT IN BISHKEK: FROM DIALOGUE IN THE TURKISH LANGUAGE TO A MULTIPOLAR WORLD**

At the SCO Summit in Bishkek, the capital of Kyrgyzstan, the short “water dialogue” between President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev and President of the Islamic Republic of Iran Masoud Pezeshkian can be seen as a symbolic but highly meaningful moment, especially because the two leaders communicated in Turkic varieties without an interpreter.

Aliyev’s suggestion of Istisu, produced in Azerbaijan’s Karabakh region, while referring to the Georgian-origin water in front of Pezeshkian, and Pezeshkian’s witty reply in the same language, may be viewed as an important message to the world beyond political talks, as it highlights the bonds of brotherhood between Azerbaijani Turks and Iranian Turks, who make up a large share 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, accompanied by sincere body language, can be regarded as a positive answer to the message conveyed by Aliyev.

In addition, Pezeshkian’s frequent use of Turkish in Iran’s public sphere and political communication, and his speaking Turkish at an international summit, stands out as a notable message regarding the cultural identity of Iranian Turks, who form an important part of Iran, while it can also be assessed that this was not merely a moment of diplomatic courtesy.

This natural exchange between the two leaders has also created an image that reinforces the human and cultural foundations of the dialogue that has recently intensified again between Azerbaijan and Iran on border security, transportation, energy and regional stability. This dialogue can also be regarded as the most important message exchanged between the two neighbouring countries in recent times.

Therefore, the few seconds of “water conversation” became one of the most striking symbolic meanings of the Bishkek Summit in terms of the Turkish language contributing to stability in the region.

Another notable message from 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 between President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, President of Russia Vladimir Putin and President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko between summit sessions.

During the summit, the warm images of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, President of Russia Vladimir Putin and President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko, although they do not in themselves produce a binding diplomatic outcome, can be read as an important message showing Türkiye’s role as a mediator in its peaceful and multidimensional foreign policy on the international stage. 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 effort to expand multidimensional diplomacy and economic ties 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-focused starting point is gradually being directed toward a broader agenda of economic and technological cooperation. 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 discussed 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 show the Organisation’s tendency to expand not only its cooperation within Eurasia but also its external ties.

At the summit, China’s approach is seen as decisive from an economic standpoint. It is clear that Xi Jinping has proposed expanding 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 shows that the SCO’s economic agenda is not limited to raw materials and trade flows, but is moving toward high technology, digitalisation and new industrial chains. In addition, important agreements have been signed between Kyrgyzstan and China in 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 main areas of focus. This situation shows that Turkestan (Central Asia) is becoming increasingly integrated with China-centred transportation and trade networks.

Among the other important meetings at the summit, the contacts between Azerbaijan and Armenia stand out. During the meeting 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 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 onto the agenda, and these developments show that transportation corridors between the Caucasus and Turkestan (Central Asia) have gained importance not only as a geopolitical issue but also as a commercial one.

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 showing that the SCO will remain a mechanism of political solidarity and will not become 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 showing the direction in which the SCO’s effectiveness will evolve in the future.

Along with all these developments, while instability in the Strait of Hormuz is putting 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 tools against energy and supply-chain risks.

In conclusion, if a brief assessment of the Bishkek Summit is made, it is observed that the SCO is moving toward becoming a multidimensional Eurasian platform that brings different political systems and economic interests together under one roof, rather than turning into a NATO-like military alliance in the classical sense. The image created 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 clear 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 turn the decisions it takes in transportation, energy, technology and trade into concrete and sustainable mechanisms.