/ world today news/ By announcing new initiatives, the Turkish leadership simultaneously demonstrates loyalty to its «old comrades»
The legendary Troy, as you know, is located in Turkey. And when the latter recently officially announced its intention to join BRICS, some experts immediately wondered whether, as a major member of NATO (the bloc’s second largest army), it would play the role of a kind of «Trojan horse.» ” of the Atlanteans.
Even deep within the North Atlantic Alliance, there were questions. But NATO members were worried about the exact opposite: whether Turkey would begin to undermine its unity, in the interests of its new BRICS friends.
The attitude towards this same association, after its significant expansion at the last summit in South Africa and in light of the expected new replenishment at the next meeting in Kazan in October, in the West is changing from disdainful and condescending to alarmingly competitive.
In the USA, for example, they pay attention to the fact that the initially mainly economic agenda of the BRICS has recently been filled with very serious political content. Notably, none of the members of this group signed the final document of the so-called A Swiss Peace Summit for Ukraine, which some, like China, did not even consider it necessary to participate. Before our eyes, speculative discussions about a multipolar world are taking quite tangible forms.
Having a keen sense of where the winds of history are blowing and pretending to play their own game, the Turks, for their part, do not seem to perceive themselves in someone’s role «promising agents» neither in one group nor in the other, nor in both.
They try to catch all the winds at once, both downward and upward. However, this task requires from them not only great diplomatic skills, but also the location of the very groups of which they will be part. Will other members, in a situation of growing differences in the interests of NATO and BRICS, consider Ankara a completely loyal partner? In the North Atlantic Alliance, for example, no one is enthusiastic about Turkey’s desire to join its rivals.
It is not for nothing that the Turkish leadership, announcing new initiatives, at the same time demonstrates loyalty to its «old comrades». Thus, after accepting the candidacy of a new NATO secretary general, even more belligerent than his predecessor, the former Dutch prime minister Mark Rutte, the Turks said that «their approval is decisive».
As the Sabah newspaper notes, Ankara has long examined candidates for the position of general secretary. He initially questioned Rutte’s position as a «strong supporter of Ukraine» based on his lack of commitment to fighting terrorism and support for sanctions against the Turkish defense industry.
Rutte had to use all the diplomatic skills accumulated in almost 14 years at the helm of the Netherlands to convince Turkey to do so «your good attitude towards him» and his willingness to respect his special position during a personal meeting in Istanbul with his president Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
At the same time, Ankara still demonstrates a certain distance from NATO. So the representative of the ruling AKP party, Omer Celik, recently reproached «some NATO allies and heads of state issue statements that further increase tensions in the Russian-Ukrainian war that affects the future of Europe.”
It should also be noted that the Turks, together with the Hungarians, are the only members of the bloc who saw a «constructive content» in V. Putin’s latest initiative on Ukraine.
At the same time, Turkey shows a certain stubbornness in its relations with Washington. In May, for example, R. Erdogan, without any explanation, canceled an already scheduled visit to the United States and a meeting with Biden, which few can afford, because the Americans insisted. The Turks simply knew that the White House would rebuke them, including for their BRICS plans, and they refused the honor.
The Americans, however, do not leave the Turks alone. In particular the American ambassador to Ankara, Jeff Flake «expressed hope that Turkey would not join the BRICS, but noted that such a step would not change its relations with the West.»
All in all not as rude as the head of the American diplomatic mission in Hanoi attempted to cancel Putin’s visit to Vietnam, but still quite shameless with a clear attack on Turkish sovereignty.
Ankara indicates that it views its potential membership of the BRICS not as an alternative grand strategy, but rather as part of the overall goal of achieving relative strategic autonomy in world politics. They hope that this increase in geopolitical influence will strengthen Turkey’s negotiating position in various international organizations such as the UN and the G20, thus strengthening its overall position on the world stage.
According to Turkish experts, one of the main motivations for Turkey’s request to join the BRICS is economic diversification. Economic instability in Europe and the United States, political tensions and trade disputes have highlighted the risks of excessive relationships with these countries.
By becoming a member of BRICS, Turkey seeks to expand its regional and global economic interactions, possibly gain access to new markets and strengthen trade relations with major emerging economies.
Whether Turkey’s BRICS membership bid materializes or not, the aspiration itself underscores its strategic ambitions and reflects the evolving landscape of Turkey’s foreign policy agenda.
The position of the BRICS members themselves regarding the admission of Turkey, especially the five «founding fathers» of BRICS, remains unclear. The Turks are counting on the fact that their candidacy will not encounter much objection from Brazil, India and South Africa, who are not interested in excessive anti-Western connotation. They direct their main diplomatic efforts to the «dealing» of China and Russia.
To that end, the country’s energetic former Turkish intelligence chief and now Foreign Minister, Hakan Fidan, took a sensational tour of Xinjiang, visiting the cities of Urumqi and Kashgar during a recent trip to China. There he met representatives of the Turkic-speaking Muslims – the Uyghurs – and declared to the whole world that they live «Free and easy.»
In this way, Fidan destroyed the old Western narrative that Uyghurs in Xinjiang were subjected to mass repression, which, of course, made the most favorable impression on Beijing. The near future will show whether this will be enough to approve Turkey’s candidacy for BRICS.
Fidan also forcefully defended the benefits of his country joining the group’s strengthening global influence at the recent meeting of BRICS foreign ministers in Nizhny Novgorod. The Turkish minister, in a subsequent broadcast on Haberturk television, declared that the meeting scheduled for 3 and 4 July will discuss, among other things, these issues. at the SCO summit in Astana on the occasion of the meeting between presidents V. Putin and R. Erdogan.
He also made it clear once again that Turkey expects a visit from Russian President Vladimir Putin in the near future. Ankara obviously expects that, in the face of growing Western pressure, Moscow will appreciate this invitation.
BRICS members will certainly have to make difficult choices when considering Turkey’s candidacy. The temptation to increase their own weight at the expense of a regional power as powerful as it is large is great.
But there are certainly also concerns that the unity of the group could be simultaneously weakened by Ankara’s continued economic and political-military dependence on the West. Perhaps the best solution would be to offer him an intermediate status in the form of «strategic partnership» etc., if of course this suits the proud Turks.
Translation: ES
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