Turkey has officially submitted an application to join the BRICS group of countries (Brazil, Russia, India, China and the Republic of South Africa) due to the lack of progress in joining the European Union.
This was reported by the Bloomberg agency on Monday, September 2, with reference to its own informed sources.
According to the sources, Turkey formally applied to join BRICS several months ago to strengthen its global influence and forge new ties outside traditional Western allies. In addition, the move is partly the result of differences with other NATO members over Turkey's close ties with aggressor country of russia following its 2022 invasion of Ukraine.
"Turkey can become a strong, successful, prestigious and effective country if it improves its relations with the East and the West at the same time. Any other method will not benefit Turkey, but will harm it," Bloomberg quoted Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan as saying.
The issue of further expansion of BRICS can be discussed during the summit in Kazan, russia, on October 22-24. Other countries interested in joining the group include Malaysia, Thailand and Turkey's close ally Azerbaijan.
As Ukrainian News Agency earlier reported, six countries - Argentina, Egypt, Iran, Ethiopia, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates - were officially invited to the BRICS group of countries in August 2023.
In December 2023, the new President of Argentina, Javier Millay, announced that his country would not join BRICS.
In April 2024, Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić denied reports that Belgrade intended to join the BRICS organization.
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