Turkish Trade Minister Ömer Bolat has confirmed that the BRICS bloc – founded by Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa – has offered Turkey to join the organisation with the status of ‘partner country’, although Ankara aspires to become a full member of the organisation.
‘As far as Turkey’s status with regard to its (BRICS) membership is concerned, Turkey has been offered partnership status,’ Bolat said during an interview with a private broadcaster yesterday. ‘This status is a transition (towards membership) in the BRICS organisational structure,’ Bolat added in statements reported by Turkish media, although the minister did not clarify whether Ankara accepted the bloc’s proposal.
‘The BRICS is a cooperative organisation that includes major countries, accounting for 25% of the world’s GDP. Its popularity is increasing… Joining the BRICS would bring Turkey important benefits in terms of cooperation with all important platforms in the world,’ said the minister, who in separate remarks denied rumours of an alleged Indian blockade of Turkey in the BRICS due to the Eurasian country’s close ties with Pakistan.
Sources close to the Turkish government reportedly pointed out, however, that despite the offer made by the BRICS for Turkey to become a partner country, this proposal would not satisfy the demands of Ankara, which seeks full membership in the organisation: a status supported by Russia, which invited Turkish President Tayyip Erdoğan to participate in the BRICS summit held last month in Kazan.
It was precisely at the October summit in the Russian city that the BRICS introduced into the bloc’s organisational structure the ‘partner country’ status now offered to Turkey, which insists that its interest in joining the BRICS is a strategic move but does not mean that it is distancing itself from the West or that it will break its ties with NATO.
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Edited and reviewed by:
Pablo Gómez is a specialist in Turkey and has been editor-in-chief of Hispanatolia since 2011. He has been analysing current affairs and geopolitics in Turkey and the surrounding region since 2006.
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