Answering journalists’ questions, he noted that today the leaders of all SCO member states have confirmed their in-person participation in the work of the upcoming meeting of the Council of Heads of State in Samarkand.

“Heads of the SCO observer countries – Belarus, Iran and Mongolia – have also confirmed their participation. The organization has developed a practice of inviting guests of the presiding country to summits. Based on this and taking into account the scale of the upcoming meeting of the SCO Council of Heads of State in the city of Samarkand, the summit is expected to be attended by leaders of a number of states invited as guests of the Uzbek side. Among them, for example, are the presidents of Turkey and Turkmenistan. A number of other countries that are close partners of Uzbekistan and other SCO member states are also showing interest in participating in the summit,” Rakhmatulla Nurimbetov said.

According to him, the range of guests invited to the Samarkand summit is currently being studied together with other member states of the organization, which is required by internal rules.

In addition, the summit will also be attended by the heads of international and regional organizations with which the SCO has established official contacts, in particular the UN, ESCAP, UNESCO, the CIS, the CSTO, the EAEU, the CICA, the ECO and the Arab League.

In total, the summit is expected to be attended by the heads of about 15 states and leaders of 10 international organizations.