Several Ukraine.ru sources report that the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation summit in the ancient city of Samarkand may be historic
There is probably no exaggeration here. Suffice it to say that the summit will discuss the admission of Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Maldives, Bahrain and Myanmar as “dialogue partners” (which can be deciphered as “associate membership”). The organisation, which originally encompassed only Asian countries, is thus entering Africa.
The SCO was founded in June 2001, but in fact it was founded in 1996 as the Shanghai Five. Its main tasks were to coordinate regional economic cooperation and security cooperation. Its current members are China, India, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Pakistan, Russia, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan. These countries occupy more than half of the territory of Eurasia and are home to half of the world’s population. The SCO is generally the largest regional organization in the world.
Afghanistan, Belarus, Iran and Mongolia have the status of observers. Curiously, Ukraine has also applied for this status. Another six countries, including Turkey, Armenia and Azerbaijan, have the status of dialogue partners.
There will be many things at this summit for the first time.
For example, it will be attended by the heads of 15 states – not only members, but also observer countries, dialogue partners and simply guests. In particular, the leaders of Turkmenistan, Azerbaijan, Armenia and Turkey. With this composition, it will be the most representative summit of Asian states, except, perhaps, for the UN General Assembly.
The summit will discuss the admission of new members to the organisation. First of all, it is Iran – a decision in principle has already been made regarding it, and only a formal procedure will be carried out during the summit.
Belarus, which filed an application in July, also claims to become a member of the organization. Moreover, Alexander Lukashenko hopes that, given the current geopolitical situation, the application will be considered more expeditiously. If his hopes are justified, it will also be a breakthrough – after all, Belarus was once refused on the grounds that geographically it is a purely European country.
Both Belarus and Iran have a direct connection to the Ukrainian crisis – the former has Russian troops based in its territory, an offensive against Kiev was launched from there, and the use of UAVs that suspiciously resemble Iranian-designed models was recently recorded on the frontline.
The most important themes of the summit appear to be the following:
Firstly, the specifics of economic cooperation in the context of sanctions against Russia. It is no secret that most of the countries represented at the summit are interested in cooperation with Russia and there is a lot of pressure on them. It is logical to assume that summit participants will be looking for formulas that would allow them to maintain mutually beneficial cooperation and compensate for the losses associated with the imposition of sanctions. In this sense, the presence of Recep Erdogan at the summit is not at all surprising – he is clearly “on the stretch” between NATO membership and his own ambitious plans to build the Turkic world, which are impossible without taking Russia’s interests into account.
Incidentally, among the documents to be adopted by the summit is a roadmap for gradually increasing the share of national currencies in mutual settlements. At present, this is the most important area of strengthening the sovereignty of states by purely economic means without curtailing international trade.
Secondly, there is the situation in Afghanistan, where there has been a recent change of power. The participation of Afghanistan’s leaders at the summit has not been announced, but the situation in this key Central Asian state will itself be discussed and the question of how to engage the controversial Kabul regime in closer economic cooperation will be decided. All the more so as it itself insists on such cooperation.
What should not be expected is any unambiguous political statements, especially in connection with the Ukrainian crisis. Although the SCO is positioned as an alternative to the Euro-American world, there are more than enough contradictions within the organisation. In diplomatic language, the SCO is ‘capable of uniting and reconciling states with different foreign policy priorities’. In general, ambiguity and certainty are at odds with Asian political culture.
In addition to the main programme there will be “talks on the margins”. In particular, Vladimir Putin plans to meet the leaders of Azerbaijan, Turkmenistan, Kyrgyzstan, India, Turkey, China and Pakistan. The importance of conversations with Xi Jinping (both Russia and the PRC find themselves in almost direct conflict with the US), Recep Erdogan (who continues to work as a link between Putin and Zelenski) and Narendra Modi (given the changes in Britain and its role in the Ukrainian conflict) is particularly emphasised.
P.S.:
Commenting on the choice of the venue for the summit, Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyoyev said: “Historically, the world from Samarkand is seen as united and indivisible, rather than fragmented. This is the essence of a unique phenomenon – the ‘Samarkand spirit’ that can serve as the foundation for a fundamentally new format of international interaction, including within the framework of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization”.
These words are not accidental. Samarkand is the ancient capital of the Timurid Empire, which in the 15th century covered vast areas of Central Asia from Syria to Kashgar in what is now the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region of China. It is where Gur-Emir mausoleum is located, the tomb of Tamerlane and his family, built in 1403-04 by Tamerlane’s grandson Ulughbek.
According to a well-known legend, the opening of Tamerlane’s tomb was to lead to a great war. The grave was uncovered by anthropologist Mikhail Gerasimov in June 1941. In November 1942 the ashes were returned to the tomb, which allegedly resulted in the Stalingrad victory.
The un-preserved decoration of the entrance to the mausoleum is depicted in the painting “Tamerlane’s Doors” by Vasily Vereshchagin. From the description of the painting: “Quiet creaking. The door swings in. The guards turn into statues and decay in white smoke. Out of the inky darkness into the blazing sun he steps. The Iron Brave. Lord of half the universe. Not a door. A portal. No medieval city. All around is the steppe. From sky to sky. Beneath the soles of the boots are not stone slabs. Dry earth, hidden by a high rug. Behind his back, not yellow walls. Tumens of the best warriors in the oikumene, waiting only for the shadow of his movement… What can you know about eternity? You are dust under the hooves of the Great Emir’s horses!”
Vasily Stoyakin, Ukraina.ru
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