Economics

EU Stalemate Fuels Turkish Ambition to Join BRICS, Minister Says

  • Foreign Minister Fidan speaks on EU membership talks, BRICS
  • Turkey has not received invitation yet on BRICS membership

Hakan Fidan

Photographer: Oliver Bunic/Bloomberg
Lock
This article is for subscribers only.

Turkey is still seeking to join BRICS nations as part of efforts to strengthen its economy, after decades of unsuccessful attempts to gain membership of the European Union, Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan said.

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is “keen to increase Turkey’s economic options” and the EU was “our first choice,” Fidan told Bloomberg TV in an interview on Friday. “If we cannot be part of the EU then other alternatives are always on the table.”