Shanghai Cooperation Organization

Member states of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) do not rule out an opportunity to create a regional free trade area, Kazinform reported quoting Kazakh Vice Foreign Minister Nurlan Yermekbayev.

Iran's bid to join the Shanghai Cooperation Organization depends on whether the Euro-Asian alliance decides to expand, its leader said Tuesday.

Iran calls for a shorter application process in order to become a permanent member of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO).

The Untied States said it would use all means to prevent Iran's influence in the region including its membership in Shanghai Cooperation Organization.

The Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO)–comprised of China, Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan–began in 2001 as a confidence-building mechanism to resolve border disputes. In recent years, it has risen in stature and scope, making headlines in 2005 when it issued a timeline for U.S. forces to pull out of Uzbekistan.

In an interview with Radio Farda, Turaj Atabaki, a professor of Middle Eastern and Central Asian history at Leiden University in the Netherlands, said that Russia and China would not complicate SCO affairs and the group's status by accepting Iran as a member.

China welcomes Iran's wish to become a full member of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, which groups China, Russia and Central Asian nations, a Foreign Ministry spokesman said Tuesday.

Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki said here Iran is ready to join Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO). After meeting with Tajik President Imomali Rakhmon here on Monday, Mottaki told reporters, "Iran has observer status in the SCO and has recently requested for membership which Tajikistan government has supported it."

The Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) on Monday stressed its opposition to the Taiwan authorities' attempts to hold a "referendum on U.N. membership" in the name of Taiwan. "The SCO member states oppose the intention of the Taiwan authorities to make efforts for Taiwan to join the United Nations by holding a "referendum" on March 22, 2008," the SCO said in a statement.

Perhaps more than any other capital in the world, Beijing has closely observed the change of the guard in the Kremlin. There are many reasons for Beijing's concerns: Russia's revival as a major power, its petro-politics approach to foreign relations, managing the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), not to mention the stability of the 4,300-kilometer Sino-Russian border.