Turkey Bids to Join BRICS as Erdogan Pushes for New Alliances Beyond West

Turkey has formally asked to join the BRICS group of emerging-market nations as it seeks to bolster its global influence and forge new ties beyond its traditional Western allies, according to people familiar with the matter.

The view of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s administration is that the geopolitical center of gravity is shifting away from developed economies, according to the people, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they aren’t authorized to comment.

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 the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, they said.

Straddling Europe and Asia, Turkey submitted an application to join BRICS some months ago amid frustration over a lack of progress in its decades-old bid to join the European Union, the people added. The bid is also partly a result of rifts with fellow NATO members after Turkey maintained close links with Russia following its invasion of Ukraine in 2022, the people added. Turkey’s foreign ministry and presidency declined to comment.

“Turkey can become a strong, prosperous, prestigious and effective country if it improves its relations with the East and the West simultaneously,” Erdogan said in Istanbul over the weekend. “Any method other than this will not benefit Turkey, but will harm it.”

The BRICS grouping, named after Brazil, Russia, India and China and South Africa, includes some of the biggest emerging economies. It got four new members at the start of this year when Iran, the United Arab Emirates, Ethiopia and Egypt joined its ranks. Saudi Arabia was invited to join, though the kingdom is yet to do that.

The group’s further enlargement could be discussed during a summit in Kazan, Russia, from Oct. 22-24, said the people. Malaysia, Thailand and Turkey’s close ally Azerbaijan are among other countries looking to join.

The 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 potentially get access to financing through its development bank as well as broaden their political and trading relationships.

Erdogan’s ruling Justice and Development Party has long accused Western nations of thwarting Turkish aspirations for a self-sufficient defense industry and strong economy. The president has repeatedly called for an overhaul of the United Nations Security Council to broaden its five permanent members, and expressed interest in joining the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, set up by Russia and China as a rival to NATO.

“We do not have to choose between the European Union and the Shanghai Cooperation Organization as some people claim,” Erdogan said. “On the contrary, we have to develop our relations with both these and other organizations on a win-win basis.”

BRICS expansion has largely been driven by China, which is trying to boost its global clout by courting nations traditionally allied with the US.

Turkey has been in talks to join the EU since 2005, but has encountered a series of obstacles, including what that bloc describes as the country’s democratic shortcomings.

Turkey believes joining the BRICS could help the country improve economic cooperation with Russia and China, and become a trade conduit between the EU and Asia. It wants to be a hub for gas exports out of Russia and Central Asia, the people said.

Erdogan’s administration has been trying to lure investment from Chinese electric carmakers, which could potentially take advantage of Turkey’s customs union with the EU to boost their market access.

“BRICS is an organization that increases the diversity of approaches, identities and politics in the global economic system,” Turkey’s Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan said after attending a BRICS foreign ministers meeting in June.

Still, Turkey is making parallel efforts to rejuvenate membership talks with the EU. That remains “a strategic target,” Fidan said last week after attending informal talks with EU counterparts for the first time in five years.