President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Russian President Vladimir Putin will meet in China next week within the scope of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) Summit.
LEADERS WILL MEET AT CRITICAL SUMMIT
The 25th SCO Summit, to be held in Tianjin, China, from August 31st to September 1st, will be a critical gathering that will take the pulse of international politics. Chinese Deputy Foreign Minister Liu Bin announced that leaders of member countries, including Putin, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Pakistani Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian, and Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko, will attend the summit.
President Erdoğan will also be present at the summit from Turkey. Also participating will be the leaders of observer and dialogue partner countries Mongolia, Azerbaijan, Armenia, Cambodia, Maldives, Nepal, Egypt, Turkmenistan, Indonesia, Malaysia, Laos, and Vietnam.
Liu stated that representatives of institutions such as UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres, SCO Secretary General Nurlan Yermekbayev as well as CIS, ASEAN, CSTO, ECO, CIGC, Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU) and Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) will also be present at the summit.
STATEMENT FROM HEAD OF COMMUNICATIONS DURAN
Presidential Communications Director Burhanettin Duran shared the following: Our President, Mr. Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, will visit Tianjin between August 31 and September 1, 2025, to attend the 25th Summit of Heads of State and Government of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization as the guest of honor, upon the invitation of President Xi Jinping of the People's Republic of China.
As part of the visit, our President will address the Summit session to be held in an expanded format on Monday, September 1.
Mr. President will also hold bilateral talks with other leaders, particularly his host counterpart, Xi Jinping.
Kremlin Foreign Policy Advisor Yuriy Ushakov stated that Russian President Vladimir Putin will hold more than 10 bilateral meetings during his four-day visit to China and that he will attend the military parade to be held in the country as the"chief guest."
Ushakov made a statement to reporters in Moscow regarding Putin’s visit to China, which will take place from August 31 to September 3.
Ushakov, explaining that Putin will attend the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) Leaders' Summit in the first two days of his visit, said that the Russian leader will go to Beijing after the summit to meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping and attend the military parade to commemorate the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II.
Ushakov stated that Putin will meet with many leaders during his visit, saying,"More than 10 meetings have been planned within the framework of the SCO and expanded SCO summits. There may be some additional meetings that we will agree on."
Ushakov, pointing out that around 20 documents are planned to be signed as part of the Russia-China talks, said,"As the Chinese representatives also emphasized, Putin will attend the 80th anniversary celebrations of the victory over militarist Japan and the end of World War II as the main guest."
Ushakov said Putin would be accompanied on his visit by several high-ranking officials, including Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, Russian Defense Minister Andrey Belousov, Central Bank of Russia Governor Elvira Nabiullina, Gazprom President Alexei Miller and heads of Russia's largest banks and companies.
WHAT IS SCO?
The Shanghai Cooperation Organization was founded in 1996 by China, Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, and Tajikistan under the name"Shanghai Five" for border security and economic cooperation. The organization grew with the accession of Uzbekistan in 2001. With the accession of India and Pakistan in 2017, and Iran in 2021, the number of members rose to nine. With the accession of Belarus in July 2025, the organization reached 10 member countries.
Mongolia and Afghanistan (inactive since September 2021) have observer status, while 14 countries, including Türkiye, are dialogue partners in the organization.
Following the summit, on September 3, China will hold a grand military parade to commemorate the end of World War II and the resistance against Japan. The ceremony will be attended by leaders of 26 countries, including Putin, Kim Jong-un, and Masoud Pezeshkian.
Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Hong Lei announced that the invitation to attend the ceremony in Beijing was conveyed by Chinese President Xi Jinping. According to the Xinhua news agency, the countries attending the military ceremony include Belarus, Azerbaijan, Armenia, Cambodia, Vietnam, Laos, Indonesia, Malaysia, Mongolia, Pakistan, Nepal, Maldives, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, Turkmenistan, Congo, Zimbabwe, Serbia, Slovakia, Cuba and the junta leader in Myanmar.
