Turkey continues to maneuver between East and West and seeks economic benefits from cooperation with all sides. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan had the confidence to declare his desire to join BRICS when he personally arrived at the BRICS summit in Kazan.

Türkiye showed its willingness to cooperate with BRICS in 2018 by participating in the BRICS meeting in South Africa. Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, the president of Türkiye, also made statements in favor of joining the bloc.

Previously, Turkish leaders have repeatedly spoken about the desire to join BRICS. In 2023, after the expansion of the circle of BRICS members, it seemed that Ankara paid more attention to BRICS. As Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan emphasized during his visit to China in June 2024, Ankara is exploring new opportunities for cooperation with several partners on different platforms such as BRICS. Then, last September, Türkiye officially applied to join BRICS.

Ankara’s opportunities and approach

Turkey has multiple motives and reasons for joining BRICS including geopolitics, economic development, access to alternative financial institutions, political independence, geostrategic interests, and increasing international influence.

Geopolitical motives are an important part of Türkiye’s motives for joining BRICS. The ruling party and Erdogan have announced their intention to turn Türkiye into a superpower.

In this context, BRICS is a great platform in which emerging players have been gathering. Turkey is an East-West country and simultaneously participates in many forms and mechanisms of international cooperation.

From this point of view, considering Turkey’s geostrategic position and playing the role of a bridge between Asia and the West, Ankara’s entry into BRICS will not only limit Turkey but will also develop its security and political cooperation, global partnerships, and foreign policy capabilities.

In fact, full membership and cooperation can serve Erdoğan’s foreign policy (a combination of the Ottoman, and national-Islamic approach) which is independent of the........

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