Political Scientist and UWI author Onur Sinan Guzaltan answered questions about Türkiye’s BRICS membership process and the terrorist attack in Ankara.
I love to first hear your thoughts on what you feel this sort of partnership status with BRICS is going to bring to Türkiye in the future?
I want to begin with Lenin’s words from one hundred years ago: “There are decades where nothing happens, and there are weeks when decades happen.”
These weeks are significant not only for Türkiye but also for the whole world.
The main economic and political axis of the world is shifting now from the West towards the East. Türkiye is in the midst of all this change for geographical reasons and feels that very deeply.
As a Turkish citizen, I am very glad that Türkiye is turning its face to BRICS. We have been a member of NATO since 1952, but as you can infer from the political and economic situation in Türkiye, the Western camp didn’t bring anything positive to us. I hope that Türkiye’s this new step with BRICS will bring positive changes.
As you mentioned, Türkiye is a NATO member. A lot of geopolitical analysts are paying attention to its unique position. There are no other NATO members officially affiliated with BRICS. Is there going to be any reactions taken by NATO as a military alliance?
Erdoğan has been following a “balance policy” between the East and the West. Now one of Türkiye’s legs is still in NATO and the other is in BRICS. That is a complicated situation, not easy to explain. But I think Türkiye needs some time. With time, Türkiye will turn its face completely to BRICS.
After the military coup attempt on 15 July 2016, Türkiye started to move away from the West. But the time period from 2016 to today is too short for the lifespan of a state.
Would you say that NATO’s hostility towards Russia and its partners played into Türkiye to push it to look to BRICS as an alternative?
NATO is not just a military organization. It is a political, economic and also cultural organization. When you become a member of NATO, the institutions and mentality of the West infiltrates into the brain of your state. It is not easy to get rid of it from one day to another. That’s why I said that Türkiye needs time.
And of course NATO tries to deter Türkiye from moving towards BRICS. NATO Secretary General criticized Erdoğan’s participation in the BRICS summit. But Türkiye will continue on its path. The thing is we can witness provocations in this process from NATO to prevent Türkiye’s integration with BRICS.
How do you evaluate the terrorist attack in Ankara?
During the hours when President Erdoğan attended the BRICS Summit in Russia/Kazan, an attack was carried out on TUSAŞ, one of the national defense institutions, in Ankara’s Kazan district.
The response to Türkiye’s participation in the BRICS Summit in Kazan was given with a terrorist attack in Kazan, Ankara. The question we need to ask while searching for the perpetrator of the attack is this; Who doesn’t want Türkiye’s membership in BRICS? Who wants the Turkish public to talk about terrorist attacks instead of the BRICS Summit?
The answer is very clear; United States… This attack was ordered by the USA and carried out by its puppets. Its goal is to give a message to Türkiye, which wants to join BRICS…
In Türkiye, the government has to make a choice; It is not possible to provide a radical response to these attacks by remaining in NATO. Türkiye’s best response to these US-centred attacks would be to leave NATO.