Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Monday that his country's developing relationship with the BRICS countries does not mean that Turkey sees BRICS as an alternative to its path to the European Union.
"We have a significant potential for cooperation with the countries in BRICS," Erdogan said, listing various figures that showed the economic power of the BRICS member countries and their benefit for Turkey. "And let me repeat, developing relations between our country and BRICS is not an alternative to our ongoing engagements. In all of these platforms, Turkey is a NATO ally and a country that is running negotiations for full ascension to the EU," the Turkish president added.
Last week, the European Commission's lead spokesperson for foreign affairs and security policy Peter Stano condemned Erdogan's decision to participate in the BRICS summit in Kazan, saying that Turkey's candidate status to join the EU makes this visit "unacceptable."
