The Shanghai Organization of Cooperation (SOC) is the regional international organization founded in 2001 by the leaders of Kazakhstan, China, Russia, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan. Except for Uzbekistan, other countries were participants of «Shanghai five», based as a result of signing the agreements on confidence-building in military area and about mutual reduction of armed forces between bordering countries: Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, China, Russia and Tajikistan in 1996 — 1997. The meeting of heads of states in June, 2002 in St. Petersburg continued institutional registration of SCO. The declaration on creation of the organization practically embodied in signing of two acts: Declarations of heads of states — members of SCO and SCO Charter — the basic authorized document. Following the results of the Moscow summit (May 28-29, 2003) SCO Secretariat with headquarters in Beijing and Regional anti-terrorist structure (RATS) were founded. The heads of the participating countries raised the questions of fight against terrorism and extremism. Summarizing the results of the Moscow summit the organizational period of SCO came to the end, and since January 1, 2004 it has started functioning as the full-fledged international structure possessing working mechanisms, the personnel and the budget. Following the results of the Tashkent summit (June, 2004) the Tashkent declaration, the Convention on privileges and immunities of SCO, and also some other documents were signed. The structure of the organization was extended at the expense of reception as the observer of the new member — Mongolia [1].
Besides a new package of contracts and conventions the at a meeting of heads of states of SCO held in 2005 the Declaration of heads of memberstates of Shanghai Organization for Cooperation which recorded further consolidation of efforts and coordination strengthening was signed. The Contract on longterm neighborliness, friendship and cooperation of memberstates of Shanghai organization of cooperation and the Bishkek declaration of heads of member -states of the Shanghai organization of cooperation have become the main final documents of the Bishkek summit (August, 2007). Presidents of two countries observers took part in a forum at SCO — the President of Mongolia Nambaryn Enkhbayar and the President of Iran Mahmoud Ahmadinejad as well. Two more states observers of the Organization were presented by the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Pakistan Hurshid Kasuri and the Minister of oil and natural gas of India Murli Deor. In 2009 at the meeting in Yekaterinburg, heads of states — participants of SCO adopted the decision on granting the status of the partner on SCO dialogue to Sri Lanka and Belarus. On April 28, 2010 the Memorandum of granting the status of the partner in SCO dialogue to Republic of Belarus was signed which officially issued this status for Belarus.
On June 7, 2012 the leaders of the member countries of SCO also signed the decision on granting the status of the observer at SCO to Afghanistan and the decision on granting Turkey of the status of the partner on dialogue. SCO activity was originally engaged in the sphere of mutual intra regional actions on suppression of acts of terrorism and also separatism and extremism in Central Asia. According to the Minister of Foreign Affairs of China Tan Jiaxuan, it became the first international organization which has made idea of fight against terrorism a core of the activity. Among the first documents signed by participants of the adjusting SCO summit in Shanghai (2001) there was the Shanghai convention on fight against terrorism, separatism and extremism which at the international level fixed for the first time determination of separatism and extremism as violent acts pursued in a 18 criminal order. Since then the memberstates allocate a prime place for questions of settlement of the internal conflicts, achievements of consensus in counteraction to extremism and a drug mafia, the creation of Regional antiterrorist structure and signing the Contract on long-term neighborliness, friendship and cooperation have become the in the beginning[2].
On May 23, 2002 in Astana (Kazakhstan) the next meeting of heads of law-enforcement departments and secret services of SCO member states was held where the decision on the draft agreement between member states of «Shanghai organization of cooperation about Regional antiterrorist structure» was signed. The draft of this Agreement was approved and recommended as well to accelerate development of other relevant documents on its basis in most short time to involve anti-terrorist structure. On April 21, 2006 SCO announced about the plans of the fight against the international drug mafia as a financial support of terrorism in the world. On October 1, 2007 the secretary general of SCO Bolat Nurgaliyev urged member states of the organization to intensify cooperation in fight against illicit trafficking in drugs, focusing special consideration on fight against drug expansion in the Afghan direction.
In spite of the fact that SCO was initially created for the purpose of joint protection of borders of neighboring states, its activity practically received also an economic orientation. In some months after the beginning of work of SCO at the first meeting in Alma-Ata prime ministers of member states of the Shanghai organization of cooperation discussed questions of regional trade and economic cooperation, development of SCO and other problems, signed the Memorandum between the governments of the participating states of SCO about main objectives and the directions of regional economic cooperation and process start on creating favorable conditions in the field of trade and investments.
Next year in May the first meeting of Ministers of Economics and trade of member states of SCO was held in Shanghai. The parties officially started the mechanism of carrying out meetings of Ministers of Economics and trade and creating favorable conditions in the field of trade and investments. Following the results of meeting the protocol to the Memorandum between the governments of SCO participating states concerning main objectives and directions of regional economic cooperation and process start on creating favorable conditions in the field of trade, investments and the joint statement and the first meeting of the ministers who are responsible for the foreign economic and foreign trade activity was signed [3].
In September 2003 the heads of governments of SCO member states signed the Program of multilateral trade and economic cooperation for 20 years. As a long-term goal free trade zone creation in SCO and in shortterm prospect — increase in a stream of goods in the region is provided. Cooperation is to cover areas of power, transport, agriculture, telecommunications, environment protection, etc. The plan of action on development of cooperation was signed a year later, in September 2004.
On October 26, 2005 at the Moscow summit of SCO the executive secretary of the organization Cheung Deguan declared that SCO will concentrate on attention on joint power projects, including development of oil and gas sector, investigation of stocks of hydrocarbons and sharing of water resources. The idea which has been put forward by the president of Russia by V. V. Putin at Shanghai summit in June, 2006 about creation of Power club SCO as the mechanism, uniting producers, consumers and transitors of energy resources, was supported by other heads of states. Concrete decisions on realization were made at a meeting of heads of governments in Dushanbe, in particular, the head of the government of Russian Federation M. Fradkov suggested to create the International center for service of a nuclear fuel cycle within SCO. Except Russia active steps for power development in the region are also taken by China and Kazakhstan. The participation opportunity of Iran in power transit is not excluded, in case of something happens, the specific weight of SCO gas market will surely pass for a half of world volume [4]. In the Declaration on creation of SCO of the member-states declared about the need to develop cultural cooperation.
For the first time Ministers of Culture of member states met in Beijing on April 12, 2002. The governments of the states actively supported carrying out the Days of Culture, participation of art collectives and figures of arts. Since then humanitarian cooperation is gradually intensified: the joint events dated for significant historical dates of the countries, entering into SCO, the exchange of students and the faculty are held, attempts to create joint training centers are made. In 2008 the SCO University as the uniform network educational space which is based on universities, conducting researches in the directions a region management, IT technologies, nanotechnologies were created, the power, ecology — by 2010 which amount 53 universities out of 5 countries of SCO. The relations in the art sphere are being developed. Since 2005 exhibitions of the children’s drawings named «Children Draw Fairy Tales» are annually regularly held. The idea of initiators of the project, consisting in that through national fairy tales to stimulate interest of children to the culture of neighboring countries, and also national property, was actively supported by SCO Secretariat which addressed to representatives of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, China, Russia, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan with the offer to organize a joint exhibition of children’s drawing. The offer received a wide response, and in June 2009 an opening day of the children’s drawings was presented by all SCO memberstates ans was carried out to the twenty first time [5]. As well as other spheres of interaction, humanitarian cooperation within SCO has wide prospects.
Reference
- Shaimergenov Т., Tussunbayeva The role of SCO in the formation of the Central Asian secureenvironment: geopolitical aspects // Central Asia and Caucasus. Sweden, 2006. 12 (44). P.27-39.
- Rakhmatulina G. Eurasian integration as a factor of a stable economic growth of CIS countries // ANALYTIC. -Almaty, 2004. №3. P.38-41.
- Barkovski A.N., Ismailova R.M., Kovalev V. etc. Economic strategies of CIS countries and Russia. М.: Center for foreign economic research RAS, 2003. p. 297
- Shanghai Organization for Cooperation // org.
- Kushumbayev K. Central Asia on integration ways: geopolitics, ethnicity, safety. – Almaty, 2002. P. 42.