Turkey signals desire to join BRICS and abandon EU membership dreams

 Turkey is interested in joining the BRICS group of emerging economies.

BRICS is an acronym for Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa. This organization, which is believed to be on the road to dominating the global economy, recently announced its willingness to expand by inviting Argentina, Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates to join the bloc.

BRICS' five original members have indicated that their priorities going forward will expand to include tackling financial and economic issues, such as pushing for reforms to the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund, and establishing a BRICS "Interbank Cooperation Mechanism."

Furthermore, BRICS has indicated its desire to expand beyond tackling economics and finance by working together to help resolve regional issues, such as Iran's desire to establish a nuclear program, and the ongoing conflicts in Libya, Syria and Afghanistan.  

Turkish Foreign Affairs Minister Hakan Fidan noted on Tuesday, June 4, that his country is interested in joining BRICS.

"Certainly, we would like to become a member of BRICS. So, we'll see how it goes this year," said Fidan.

In an interview with the South China Morning Post, Fidan noted that the BRICS group could offer Turkey a "good alternative" to its longstanding and repeatedly stalled desire to join the European Union (EU), especially if Ankara is interested in boosting its economic prospects.

Fidan noted that while Turkey was in a customs union with the EU, it was still exploring new opportunities for economic cooperation, including with BRICS. 

The foreign minister noted that he is looking forward to attending a meeting in Russia to discuss the development of new mechanisms for international cooperation – a meeting that will include the foreign ministers of BRICS nations.

One of the topics on the agenda is expected to be the possibility of Turkey joining the bloc.

"We cannot ignore the fact that BRICS, as an important cooperation platform, offers some other countries a good alternative," said Fidan. "We see potential in BRICS."

Russia willing to welcome Turkey

For its part, Russia has indicated its willingness to welcome Ankara's interest in joining the bloc.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said on Friday, May 31, that BRICS' doors are "open to representatives of the most diverse economic and political systems and macro-regions."

"The only condition is that you must agree to work based on the key principle of the sovereign equality of states," he added.

Several days later, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said in response to a question about whether Moscow would allow Turkey to participate in BRICS events: "We would like to of course, why would we not?"

Peskov further noted that there was heightened interest in BRICS from other states. However, he did add that it was unlikely the bloc could completely satisfy the desires of all interested nations.