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By Web Desk
ANKARA – Türkiye has formally applied to join the BRICS grouping of emerging market economies, the spokesperson for President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s ruling party said on Tuesday. If accepted, Türkiye would become the first NATO member to join BRICS, a group positioning itself as a counterweight to Western dominance in global affairs.
Our president has repeated several times that we will join BRICS, and relevant process has started now,” Omer Celik, spokesman of the ruling Justice and Development Party, AKP, has said.
If accepted, Türkiye would become the first NATO member to join BRICS, a group positioning itself as a counterweight to Western dominance in global affairs.
Although originally coined in the early 2000s to refer to the emerging economies of Brazil, Russia, India, and China, the term BRIC evolved into an international forum in 2009. South Africa joined a year later to expand the group into BRICS. And earlier this year, Saudi Arabia, Argentina, Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, and the United Arab Emirates joined.
The Turkish participation in the BRICS summit was held in South Africa back in 2018.
CELik further elaborated, “Our president has voiced that Türkiye wants to take its place in every important international platform, and BRICS is among them,” in a news conference. On Saturday, Erdogan underlined that Türkiye might be a strong, wealthy, and respected country only when it develops its ties with the East and West simultaneously.
On Saturday, Erdogan underlined that Türkiye might be a strong, wealthy, and respected country only when it develops its ties with the East and West simultaneously.
In June, he made clear that BRICS membership for Türkiye was complementary and not a substitute for other alliances, adding that it remains a candidate for membership in the European Union. However, accession talks with the EU-which started in 2005-have been stalemated in recent years, especially after the crackdown by the authorities in Türkiye against opposition groups following the failed coup attempt in 2016.
Besides, Türkiye has maintained good relations with Moscow even after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Türkish membership in BRICS will also increase tensions within NATO, particularly in view of the fact that the bloc is increasingly cooperating with Russia and China. While Türkish officials underline the fact that their BRICS ambitions do not clash with their priorities within NATO, such dual alignment could raise suspicions among other members of NATO where Türkey’s geopolitical loyalties really lie.
BRICS does not have a security component; hence, its membership for Türkiye will have more implications for its relations with the EU rather than with NATO. Since there are no security commitments with BRICS, it might spur a review of strategic priorities and alliances by Turkey.
BRICS does not have a security component; hence, its membership for Türkiye will have more implications for its relations with the EU rather than with NATO.
BRICS does not have a security component; hence, its membership for Türkiye will have more implications for its relations with the EU rather than with NATO.
Membership to BRICS could give a new way to avenues of trade and investment, especially from the emerging economies of the world. This might be a catch for the Türkish economy, which has been suffering for the past years. In shifting towards BRICS, Türkiye would achieve more substantial economic relations with non-Western Hemispheric states and thereby balance out the power held by Western-led institutions such as the IMF and the World Bank.
