Erdogan: Consultations over Turkey's Accession to BRICS "Ongoing"

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said that consultations with BRICS regarding Turkey’s accession to the group as a partner member are ongoing.

This came during a press conference during the G20 summit on Tuesday, 

Last week, Turkish Trade Minister Omer Bolat revealed that BRICS had offered Turkey to join as a partner member. The move comes as Ankara continues to seek to join BRICS as a permanent member.

During the conference, Erdogan said, “Regarding the BRICS issue, our communication, consultations and discussions between our teams and friends in BRICS are ongoing, and when these consultations and discussions are completed, we will give the appropriate answer to the group’s presidency.”

The Turkish president has previously said that Ankara sees BRICS as an opportunity to strengthen economic cooperation with member states, rather than as an alternative to its relations with the West or its membership in NATO.

Turkish officials have repeatedly said that potential BRICS membership would not affect Turkey’s responsibilities toward the Western military alliance.

According to a statement issued by BRICS on October 23 during its meeting in Kazan, the group added a new category, “partner country,” in addition to full membership.

When asked by CNN whether Turkey had accepted the offer, Erdogan did not give a definitive answer.

BRICS is an intergovernmental organization of nine countries that many see as an important alliance that confronts Western dominance of the global economy and decisions related to it.

The member states’ economies are worth $28.5 trillion, while their population, after the addition of its new members, including Egypt and the UAE, is about 3.5 billion people, or about 45% of the world’s population. The group also produces 44% of the world’s crude oil.

Turkey is seeking to be the first NATO member state to join an economic alliance led by Russia and China, the BRICS group.