Russia sees a “serious approach” behind Türkiye’s plans to join the BRICS alliance of developing markets, according to a report by the state agency TASS.
“I assume that when a government says that they are making a specific step, it is backed by serious intentions,” Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Friday in an interview with RBC when asked to comment on Türkiye’s plans to become a member of the group, TASS wrote.
At BRICS, there are no rules forbidding members of certain organizations from having ties with the grouping, Russia’s top diplomat added.
He referred to Türkiye’s NATO membership and EU candidate status, which has been on the books for a long time.
“The main thing for full-fledged members and countries developing various forms of cooperation with BRCIS is to share common values that are different from the ones the European Union has been defending in Ukraine,” he underscored.
“All BRICS members stand ready to comply with provisions of the U.N. Charter in their entirety and interconnection. Not on an optional or random basis. For this is what constitutes multipolarity,” Lavrov concluded.
A spokesperson for Türkiye’s ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Party) confirmed its intention to join BRICS earlier this week, adding that no concrete action has yet been taken.
Kremlin, too, said BRICS member states would consider Türkiye’s formal application for full membership.
The country’s new diplomatic push reflects its aspirations to cultivate ties with all sides in a multipolar world while still fulfilling its obligations as a key member of NATO, sources told Bloomberg earlier this week.
Straddling Europe and Asia, Türkiye applied to join BRICS some months ago amid frustration over a lack of progress in its decades-old bid to join the European Union, the sources added.
Türkiye’s accession to the EU has been essentially frozen since 2005, with talks blocked over what Ankara calls “politicized” reasons, namely the deadlock in the ethnically divided island of Cyprus.
The bid is also partly a result of rifts with fellow NATO members after Türkiye maintained close links with Russia following its invasion of Ukraine in 2022, the people added.
After the news came out, Ankara’s main NATO ally, the U.S., said Türkiye would remain an important ally. A spokesperson for the White House remarked that Washington believes countries can choose countries and groups they maintain relations with on their own, while U.S. ambassador to Ankara, Jeff Flake, who left this month, said Türkiye’s membership to BRICS would not change Ankara’s alignment with the West.
“Türkiye can become a strong, prosperous, prestigious and effective country if it improves its relations with the East and the West simultaneously,” President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said in Istanbul over the weekend. “Any method other than this will not benefit Türkiye but will harm it.”
The BRICS grouping, named after Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa, includes some of the biggest emerging economies. At the start of this year, it had four new members: Iran, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Ethiopia and Egypt. Saudi Arabia was invited to join, though the kingdom has yet to do so.
BRICS touts itself as an alternative to what its members see as Western-dominated institutions such as the World Bank and International Monetary Fund. New members can access financing through its development bank and broaden their political and trading relationships.
The AK Party has long accused Western nations of thwarting Turkish aspirations for a self-sufficient defense industry and a strong economy.
Türkiye believes that joining the BRICS countries could help the country improve its economic cooperation with Russia and China and become a trade conduit between the EU and Asia. Sources said it wants to be a hub for gas exports out of Russia and Central Asia.
