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President Recep Tayyip Erdogan expressed support for advancing peace between Armenia and Azerbaijan during separate meetings with both nations' leaders on Monday at the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) summit in China.
Erdogan met with Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian and Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev on the sidelines of the 25th SCO summit, addressing regional stability and bilateral cooperation, according to statements from the Turkish Communications Directorate.
During his meeting with Pashinian, Erdogan discussed Türkiye-Armenia relations in light of steps toward permanent stability in the South Caucasus. The Turkish president expressed satisfaction with progress in the Armenia-Azerbaijan peace process.
"Türkiye supports peace, stability and development in the region while continuing to contribute to the process," Erdogan said, according to the directorate's statement on social media platform.
The Turkish president also noted that Ankara is evaluating steps to increase cooperation between Türkiye and Armenia.
In a separate meeting with Aliyev, Erdogan emphasized the importance of Türkiye and Azerbaijan coordinating their regional development initiatives. Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan and Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Jeyhun Bayramov also participated in the discussions.
The Turkish president said the two countries would continue taking steps to develop cooperation in many areas, particularly energy and transportation.
"Türkiye will continue contributing to the peace process," Erdogan told Aliyev, expressing satisfaction with the progress between Armenia and Azerbaijan.
The meetings took place during the 25th SCO summit, which opened Monday with Chinese President Xi Jinping delivering the opening address. Erdogan arrived in China on Sunday and held bilateral meetings with Xi and Pakistan's Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif.
The SCO has evolved from the original "Shanghai Five" mechanism to include 10 member states, two observers and 14 dialogue partners across Asia, Europe and Africa.
The organization spans approximately 24% of the global land area and 42% of the world's population, with member states accounting for roughly one-quarter of the world's GDP.
Trade among SCO members has increased nearly 100-fold over the past two decades, according to the organization's data.
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