Russia has welcomed Turkey’s reported desire to become part of the BRICS+ group of nations, saying the subject will be on the agenda of the organisation’s next summit. Reuters has quoted Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov as saying that there is a heightened interest in the BRICS+ group from various states. But he says it’s unlikely the grouping will completely satisfy all interested nations.
Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan has visited Beijing, the highest-level visit by a Turkish official to BRICS+ member China since 2012. Fidan held talks with Chinese counterpart Wang Yi and other officials. Asked whether Turkey would want to join BRICS+ during a talk at the Centre for China and Globalisation on Monday, Fidan said “we would like to of course, why would we not?”. However, he did not elaborate further.
Fidan was cited by Turkey’s state-run Anadolu news agency as saying Ankara was also eyeing cooperation with BRICS+ members and that he would attend a planned meeting of the group next week in Russia.
Reuters reports that it’s not immediately clear whether Ankara will take steps to join the BRICS+ group, as Ankara has not previously stated its desire to formally join.
NATO member Turkey has come under fire by its Western allies in recent years over its ties with Russia, with some saying that its “axis” is shifting away from the Western military alliance. Ankara has rejected this, saying it remains a committed member of the alliance and maintains its goal of full membership of the European Union. Meanwhile, China says it is ready to strengthen strategic alignment with Turkey to counter “power politics” on the international stage.
Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said: “The two sides agreed on the need for close strategic communication… to safeguard the common interests of developing countries”. Wang said Beijing was willing to continuously expand cooperation with Ankara in economics, trade, energy, infrastructure, and the hi-tech and digital economy.
“China is willing to continue to strengthen coordination and cooperation with the Turkish side within the framework of the United Nations and the Group of 20, to oppose all forms of hegemony and power politics, and to maintain the stability of the global supply chain,” he was quoted as saying.
The talks came on the second day of Fidan’s three-day trip to China. Earlier on Tuesday, Fidan met Vice-President Han Zheng, telling him that Ankara was ready to have close high-level exchanges with Beijing. According to a Chinese statement, Fidan told Han that Turkey adhered to the one-China principle and “will not allow activities in Turkey that undermine China’s territorial integrity”. China sees Taiwan as part of its territory and has told the island state to hand over power – which has been repeatedly denied by Taiwan.
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