Turkey’s request to join two international organizations headed by Russia and China has added to questions about its role in NATO with which it has clashed in recent years.
Ankara asked this week to join the BRICS economic bloc named after Brazil, Russia, India and China and South Africa. It is seen as a rival to the G7 of the world’s most developed economies and aspirations to join it form the latest pivot by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan away from the West.
Erdoğan has said he also wants Ankara to join the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO). It has raised concerns over the compatibility of Turkey’s membership of NATO, whose security focus is the invasion of Ukraine, with being in blocs spearheaded by Moscow carrying out the aggression.