NATO Chief Confident Turkey Will Never Make Steps Undermining Collective Defense

Turkish authorities would not take any steps that could harm the system of NATO's collective defense, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said in an interview published on Wednesday.

MOSCOW (Sputnik) — On Sunday, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said that Ankara was engaged in discussions on its possible accession to the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), an international organization responsible for a number of issues, including in the security sphere, with participation of Russia and China among others,

"I am absolutely certain that Turkey will never do anything which undermines this collective defense, Article 5, and the unity in NATO," Stoltenberg said, as quoted by the Hurriyet Daily News newspaper, commenting Erdogan's statements.

The official said that the strength of the alliance was based on the system of its collective defense and response to a potential attack against any member of NATO.

The alliance’s Article 5 commitment refers to an item in the NATO charter stating that an attack on any member is considered an attack on the entire alliance.

The SCO is a political, economic and military alliance that includes Russia, China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan. Belarus, Mongolia, Iran, Afghanistan, India and Pakistan hold observer status in the organization, while Turkey, as well as Azerbaijan, Cambodia, Armenia, Nepal and Sri Lanka hold status of dialogue partners. Pakistan, India and Iran have officially applied for SCO membership.