MOSCOW, July 2. /TASS/. Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan will be able to discuss the Russian leader’s upcoming visit on the sidelines of the 24th session of the SCO Council of Heads of State in Astana, Kremlin Aide Yury Ushakov told reporters.

"We have been planning a trip to Turkey for a while. I think that the leaders will discuss this issue. And in addition to that, I think that there are a lot of subjects to exchange opinions on between the leaders of such countries that play a very important role in a regional sense," the Kremlin official noted.

"We maintain constant dialogue with the Turkish side, constantly in touch over the phone. Quite recently, our president hosted Turkish Foreign Minister [Hakan] Fidan. So all the important, including sensitive, issues <…> can be discussed this time. And, naturally, the leaders will talk about the prospects of future joint work, including [Putin’s] visit [to Turkey]," he concluded.

The SCO summit will be held on July 4 at the Palace of Independence in Astana. It is expected that SCO Secretary-General Zhang Ming will attend the summit. UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres and the leaders of several international organizations were also invited.

The SCO was founded on June 15, 2001, in Shanghai. Initially the organization included Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, China, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan, in 2017 they were joined by India and Pakistan. Tehran applied to join in 2008 and became a full-fledged member of the organization in July 2023. Belarus is expected to join the group soon.