NATO member Turkey has applied for membership in the BRICS bloc of developing economies, a senior Kremlin official said Wednesday, as Russia and China seek to counter the West’s global influence. Erdogan claims the application is not attempt to reorient the country from Western alliances to the Euro-Asian sphere, but a means to diversify her intentional networks.
Yuri Ushakov, President Vladimir Putin’s foreign affairs aide, told reporters that Turkey has submitted an application “for full membership” in the bloc that Russia this year chairs, and it will be considered.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has stated several times that his country aspires to become a member of the BRICS alliance, according to Omer Celik, a spokesman for Erdogan’s ruling party. But Celik stopped short this week of confirming that Turkey has applied formally.
The BRICS alliance was founded in 2006 by Brazil, Russia, India and China, with South Africa joining in 2010. It recently has undergone an expansion, and now includes Iran, Egypt, Ethiopia and the United Arab Emirates. Saudi Arabia has said it’s considering joining, and Azerbaijan and Malaysia have formally applied, Turkish press sources report.
Ankara announced that President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan had accepted an invitation to attend the BRICS Summit in Kazan, Russia. Ushakov confirmed that Erdoğan had accepted Russia’s invitation to attend the summit in Kazan, the capital of the Republic of Tatarstan.
Turkey’s BRICS application is viewed as yet another attempt by Erdogan to pull the country away from her traditional Western alliances.
The European Union (EU) responded to reports of Turkey’s application to join BRICS. During a press conference in Brussels, European Commission spokesperson for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Peter Stano addressed the matter, stating that Turkey could decide what was best for itself, form alliances, and cooperate, like any country. Stano added, “As for Turkey-EU relations, Turkey is a candidate country for EU membership. We have the Customs Union and excellent trade relations.”
However, Stano also noted that candidate countries must respect the EU’s values and the obligations under agreements. “We expect candidate countries to share the EU’s values and align their foreign policies with ours,” Stano said. He further emphasized that countries accepted into the EU must fully align all their policies, including those related to trade agreements, with EU policies.
White House is yet to comment.
“Turkey can become a strong, prosperous, prestigious and effective country if it improves its relations with the East and the West simultaneously,” Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said in Istanbul over the weekend. “Any method other than this will not benefit Turkey, but will harm it.”
“We do not have to choose between the European Union and the Shanghai Cooperation Organization [SCO] as some people claim,” Erdoğan added. “On the contrary, we have to develop our relations with both these and other organisations on a win-win basis,” Erdoğan added.
A former Turkish diplomat told Newsweek that the move has been driven by “accumulated frustrations” in Ankara with the West and the European Union.
“This is not the strategy, by Ankara, to replace the West, but it’s a strategy to strengthen relations with non-Western powers at a time when the US hegemony is waning,” said Sinan Ülgen, head of the Istanbul-based think tank EDAM.
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