"As for the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, we have already started working in a sense. We have been partners in dialogue for several years. This is the first step. The second stage is the observers. A few years ago, we officially applied to the Secretariat of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization to raise our status to observer status," Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev told Russia's leading media outlets on February 23 at the TASS news agency, Report informs.
"Unfortunately, this issue has not been resolved yet. My contacts with the Russian leadership, the leadership of the People's Republic of China, and other members of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization in this context show that there is no reason not to raise our status. However, this issue has not been resolved yet for unknown reasons," the head of state stressed.