MOSCOW: Russian President Vladimir Putin announced on Wednesday that he anticipates his Turkish counterpart, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, will attend the upcoming BRICS summit in Russia next month, following Turkiye’s request to join the group of emerging economies.
Putin stated he is scheduled to meet Erdogan on October 23, the day after the summit kicks off in Kazan. A spokesperson for Turkiye’s ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) noted earlier this month that Erdogan has expressed Turkiye’s desire to become a BRICS member and that the process is currently underway.
If Turkiye’s membership is approved, it would become the first NATO member in the group, which positions itself as a counterbalance to the Western-led global order.
“I look forward to our meeting in Kazan at the BRICS summit; I have a separate meeting planned with him,” Putin said during a meeting with Numan Kurtulmus, the speaker of the Turkish parliament.
Originally, BRIC emerged in the early 2000s as a term to describe Brazil, Russia, India, and China as rising economies. The four nations established the BRIC forum in 2009, and South Africa joined the following year, transforming it into BRICS. Recently, Saudi Arabia, Argentina, Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, and the United Arab Emirates also joined.
Turkiye previously participated in a BRICS summit held in South Africa in 2018. Additionally, Putin confirmed that Chinese President Xi Jinping is expected to attend the upcoming summit in October.
