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Turkey requested to join the group as a full member earlier this
year with the stated aim of “simultaneously” strengthening its
ties with East and West. President Recep Tayyip Erdogan attended
the bloc's summit in Russia last month.
“At the last summit meeting in Kazan, Turkey’s application was
considered,” the state-run Anadolu Agency quoted Trade Minister
Omer Bolat as telling legislators during a parliamentary
committee meeting. “It is understood that they will respond to
us (by offering) a partner country status.”
Bolat denied claims that India had blocked Turkey’s full
membership in BRICS because of Ankara’s close ties to rival
Pakistan.
“There is no question of India vetoing our membership,” Bolat
said.
The BRICS alliance was founded in 2006 by Brazil, Russia, India
and China, with South Africa joining in 2010. It now includes
Iran, Egypt, Ethiopia and the United Arab Emirates.
Erdogan, in power for more than two decades, has sought to carve
a more independent foreign policy for Turkey and to enhance its
global influence. The country, a NATO member, has been
frustrated by the lack of progress in its membership talks with
the European Union.
BRICS has a stated aim to amplify the voice of major emerging
economies to counterbalance what it considers to be the
Western-led global order. Its founding members have called for
the reform of international institutions like the United
Nations, the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank.
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