17 countries including Azerbaijan will receive SCO partner status

SCO countries will decide to unify the category of dialogue partners and observers in the organization; they will be classified as partners, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said.

"We have worked productively. This is part of the preparations for the SCO summit, which will take place in the fall in Bishkek. The draft documents for the leaders envision the creation of a universal center to combat new challenges and threats, a center to combat drug crimes. And it will be announced that instead of dialogue partners and observers there will now be a single category of SCO partners," Lavrov told journalists, TASS reports.

According to him, in addition to the ten SCO members, there are 15 partner countries and 2 observers. "This entire category of 17 countries will be reclassified, I hope they will not object, into the status of partners," the minister added.

The organization was created in 2001 in Shanghai with the participation of China, Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan and Tajikistan. Later, Pakistan, India, Iran and Belarus joined it. In addition, the structure currently has two observer members and 14 dialogue partners, including Azerbaijan and Turkey.

Several more countries have applied for dialogue partner status.