India hinders Türkiye's BRICS membership - Bild
Photo: India has blocked Türkiye from joining BRICS (Getty Images)
Ahead of the 16th BRICS summit, Türkiye submitted an application for associate membership in the group. However, no statements on this topic were made during the final press conference on the second day of the summit, according to Bild.
Sinan Ülgen, a Turkish foreign policy expert at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace think tank (the US), emphasized that there wasn't even a vote on Türkiye's accession to BRICS.
According to the former Turkish diplomat, India is blocking Türkiye's entry into BRICS, allegedly due to Ankara's good relations with India's rival, Pakistan.
Ülgen explained that there are several reasons behind Erdoğan's desire to join BRICS. Firstly, it's about strengthening strategic autonomy through this platform. Additionally, Ankara may want to express its frustration with the EU's stance on Türkiye's membership and the modernization of the EU customs union.
Political prestige is another motive for Erdoğan. The President wants to show that he can sit at both NATO and BRICS tables at the same time, the expert said.
Critics, however, say that with such maneuvers Erdoğan, who considers himself a “mediator”, has, on the contrary, driven his country into foreign policy isolation.
Bild also noted that Türkiye's application angered its Western partners, especially NATO allies.
BRICS in Russia
It is worth noting that a major BRICS summit is currently underway in Russia, with representatives from candidate countries also participating.
UN Secretary-General António Guterres, who declined to attend the Ukrainian Peace Summit in Switzerland this summer, also arrived at the BRICS summit.
Earlier today, President Zelenskyy made a sharp statement about Putin's BRICS summit in Kazan.
