[Politico] BRICS+ -Turkey’s shifting diplomatic allegiances: NATO out, BRICS in?

On Saturday afternoon, in the closed meeting room of the BRICS+ members, Turkey announced its intention to leave NATO for the benefit of the BRICS+. This decision signals a shift from Western institutions towards new alliances as “the Western world order is falling apart”, explained the delegation of Turkey.

While this decision may seem unexpected to some, many countries in the BRICS+ meeting welcomed it openly: « Turkey has a very relevant strategic position in the world, geographically and historically », explained the delegation of Iran.

However, possible hierarchies in the BRICS+ may have become salient during Saturday’s meeting, leading the founding BRICS members to hold separate unmoderated caucuses to decide on priority topics, a procedure criticised by newer BRICS+ countries such as Iran, who joined the alliance in 2024 and expressed feeling “left out of these decisions”.

While Russia expressed enthusiasm at the idea of the possible integration of Turkey to the BRICS+ alliance, its possible incoming membership was not on the agenda today.

Instead, the meeting focused on discussing trade routes, the need to reinforce the structure of the alliance by further institutionalising it, the implementation of measures to hold multinational companies accountable, as well as increasing cooperation of intra-BRICS trade. the increase of intra-BRICS trade. “We want the BRICS to form a counterpart to the West”, ambitiously announced the delegation of Russia.

Tariffs have not yet been mentioned but will be talked about, assures the delegation of Iran.