Turkish Trade Minister Omer Bolat said Turkey has been offered partner country status by the BRICS group of nations, as Ankara continues what it calls efforts to balance its Eastern and Western ties.
Turkey, a member of NATO, has expressed in recent months its interest in participating in the BRICS group of emerging economies, made up of Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa, Ethiopia, Iran, Egypt and the United Arab Emirates.
Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan attended a summit of BRICS leaders hosted by Russian President Vladimir Putin in Kazan last month after Ankara said it had taken formal steps to become a member of the group.
“As for Turkey’s status in relation to membership (to BRICS), they offered Turkey partner member status,” Bolat said in an interview with private broadcaster TVNet on Wednesday (13).
“This (status) is the transition process in the Brics organizational structure,” he said.
Ankara sees the BRICS group as an opportunity to promote economic cooperation with member states, rather than an alternative to its Western ties and NATO membership, Erdogan said.
Turkish officials have repeatedly said that possible BRICS membership would not affect Türkiye’s responsibilities to the Western military alliance.
In addition to full membership, BRICS members introduced a “partner country” category in Kazan, according to the statement issued by BRICS on October 23.
Bolat did not say whether Ankara had accepted the proposal.
An official from Erdogan’s ruling AK Party told Reuters this month that although the proposal was discussed in Kazan, partner country status would not meet Turkey’s demands for membership.
