EU expresses concern as NATO member Turkey seeks to join BRICS bloc

The European Union has expressed concern regarding NATO member Turkey’s ongoing bid to join the BRICS organization, saying that as an EU membership candidate, Ankara had to “respect” the EU’s “values” and foreign policy preferences, despite its being free to join the alliances of its choosing.

EU spokesman Peter Stano made the remarks at a press conference in Brussels on Tuesday after Turkey’s ruling Justice and Development Party confirmed that Ankara had formally applied for BRICS’ membership.

Stano said Turkey had the right to choose which international alliances to join.

The country, however, was still a candidate for EU membership, he added, saying that the bloc expected such candidates to share its values and fully align their foreign policies with it.

Ankara has been in negotiations to join the EU since 2005. Progress in the talks has essentially been frozen, though, due to political roadblocks created by certain EU members faulting, what they call, the country’s democratic shortcomings.

Ankara sees the reasons hindering its EU accession as obstacles unrelated to its suitability for membership.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has repeatedly warned that his country could part ways with the European Union in reaction to the bloc's long-drawn-out failure to honor its pledge to accept Ankara as a member.

The country’s BRICS aspirations also come amid rifts with fellow members of the United States-led Western military alliance of NATO, which have disagreed its retaining close relations with Russia after the launch of Moscow’s ongoing military operation in Ukraine.

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Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has criticized Brussels for not honoring its long-time membership promise to Turkey, saying he "no longer expects anything from the European Union".

If admitted, Turkey would become the first NATO member in BRICS, which is seen as a geopolitical counterweight to Western power and influence.

Observers say that the frictions have prompted Turkey to seek to foster better relations with the East, including through joining BRICS that would translate into enhanced ties with Russia and China.

Attending a BRICS summit in June, Turkey’s Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan touted the body as “an organization that increases the diversity of approaches, identities, and politics in the global economic system.”

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Also on Tuesday, Yuri Ushakov, assistant to Russian President Vladmir Putin, said Erdogan had accepted Russian authorities’ invitation to participate in the upcoming summit of BRICS that is to be held in the western Russian city of Kazan in October.

BRICS features Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa, Iran, the United Arab Emirates, Ethiopia and Egypt.

The bloc, which is often seen as an alternative to the Western economic and political hegemony, comprises almost 46 percent of the global population, 36 percent of the world’s gross domestic product (GDP), and 25 percent of the global trade measured in terms of exports.

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