SCO Secretary General Attends CIS Summit

On 9 October 2026, Secretary General of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization Nurlan Yermekbayev attended an expanded meeting of the Council of Heads of State of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), held in the Avaza National Tourist Zone, Turkmenistan.

The meeting opened with a speech of President of Turkmenistan Serdar Berdimuhamedov, who chaired the session.

SCO Secretary General Attends CIS Summit

During the meeting in expanded format statements were delivered by President of the Republic of Uzbekistan Shavkat Mirziyoyev (Uzbekistan will assume the CIS chairmanship on 1 January 2027), President of the Islamic Republic of Iran Masoud Pezeshkian, CIS Secretary-General Sergey Lebedev and Secretary-General of the International Organization for the Russian Language Natalia Bocharova.

A number of documents were signed following the meeting.

It was decided to hold the next meeting of the CIS Council of Heads of State on 8-9 October 2027 in Bukhara, Republic of Uzbekistan.

SCO Secretary General Attends CIS Summit

On the sidelines of the summit, SCO Secretary General Nurlan Yermekbayev met with President of the Islamic Republic of Iran Masoud Pezeshkian.

The two sides exchanged views on the role of the SCO in current international relations and the further development of the Organization.

The Iranian President emphasised the importance of developing and adopting collective decisions, noting that one of the SCO's priorities should be to ensure the consistent and effective implementation of previously adopted decisions and proposed initiatives.

Nurlan Yermekbayev shared this assessment and reaffirmed the SCO Secretariat's readiness to provide the necessary support in advancing this work. He informed the Iranian President that two years earlier, the Secretariat had submitted proposals to the Member States on establishing a mechanism for reviewing, coordinating and implementing proposals and initiatives put forward by the Heads of State and agreed upon by the Member States.

The Secretary General agreed with the Iranian President's view on the need to enhance the effectiveness and practical impact of the Organization's activities, as well as to improve the implementation of proposed initiatives and adopted decisions.

On 10 October 2025, the Shanghai Cooperation Organization was granted observer status with the Commonwealth of Independent States. The decision was adopted at the meeting of the CIS Council of Heads of State in Dushanbe.