Turkiye’s future lies with the group of nations seeking to create an alternative to Western hegemony via the BRICS economic bloc, and President Recep Tayyip Erdogan knows it.
That’s according to filmmaker and analyst Regis Tremblay, who offered insight on the matter as it was announced that President Erdogan would attend the bloc’s annual summit this year in the Russian city of Kazan.
“President Erdogan has confirmed his participation in the 16th BRICS summit’s outreach/BRICS+ session,” announced Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov during a press conference Thursday.
“The Ukraine conflict is going to be one of the issues that will be discussed, particularly at the high level, when we welcome the Turkish leader to Kazan,” Ryabkov added; Turkiye has approached the ongoing Western proxy war with more caution than other NATO members, previously playing host to peace negotiations in 2022.
“Erdogan is doing what Erdogan has always done: he's straddling both sides of the proverbial picket fence,” said Tremblay on Sputnik’s The Critical Hour program Thursday. “Erdogan has been trying to be a peacemaker between Russia and Ukraine… I'm not sure that it will be the top issue in Kazan this month, but the conflict in Ukraine will be on the agenda somewhere.”
“I think the main topic in Kazan will be a new international monetary system,” the documentarian clarified. “That has been all over Russian media for the last couple of weeks while this preparation is going on for Kazan. So, I'm really glad that Erdogan is going to attend this meeting. I'm not sure that he's going to be invited to be a member right yet, but I think it'll be a feeling out session.”
Turkiye has often maintained a fraught relationship with its Western allies, Tremblay noted. The Eurasian country has been recognized as a candidate for full membership in the European Union since 1999, but its efforts to join the body have stalled in the decades since. A majority Muslim country, Turkiye maintains a culture distinct from that of historically Christian Europe – Turkiye’s influence in the Islamic world has grown in recent months as President Erdogan has become a strong proponent of the Palestinian cause.
Turkiye frequently takes advantage of its outsider status in NATO, previously holding up the ascension of Finland and Sweden to the alliance while it attempted to secure the extradition of Kurdish separatists. The United States could opt to eventually punish Turkiye’s independence with sanctions, claimed host Garland Nixon, providing Ankara with even more incentive to build links beyond the US and its European allies.
“I'm sure that Turkiye has upset Washington and those people who are controlling what's happening in Washington because Erdogan really has broken from NATO,” said Tremblay, pointing out the country’s relatively independent position on the Ukraine proxy war. “If Erdogan is concerned that he's going to be sanctioned, it would make sense for him to cozy up to the BRICS countries and to try to get himself involved in that international monetary system that they're creating.”
“He and Putin have had a very open and frequent relationship,” he noted. “They have talked on the phone many times. They've met in person many times. Russia has got huge investments in Turkiye, especially helping them build nuclear power plants. And Turkiye really needs Russia as a friend. And so I think maybe Putin said, ‘you maybe better climb over on this other side of the fence.’”