Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan wants to join the BRICS alliance and has submitted an application for membership ahead of the 16th summit of the alliance. But for now, he will have to bury the idea.
Sinan Ulgen, a former diplomat and expert on Turkish foreign policy at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, explained to BILD that India is preventing Turkey from joining BRICS. The reason is Ankara’s good relations with Pakistan, which is hostile to India.
According to Ulgen, Erdogan wants to get closer to Vladimir Putin’s alliance to strengthen Turkey’s “strategic autonomy.” He also expresses his disappointment with the EU. Another motive is “political prestige”: Erdogan wants to show that he “can sit at the NATO and BRICS tables at the same time.” He sees himself as a “mediator” on the international stage.
Critics say that Erdogan has driven Turkey into foreign policy isolation with such maneuvers.