Turkish parliament speaker says he hopes BRICS membership will happen ‘as soon as possible’

By Burc Eruygur

ISTANBUL (AA) - Türkiye’s parliament speaker expressed hope Tuesday that his country’s membership to the BRICS economic group will be realized “as soon as possible,” amid talks with the head of Russia’s upper legislative chamber in Moscow.

“I hope that Türkiye’s BRICS membership will materialize as soon as possible,” Numan Kurtulmus was quoted as saying during a meeting with Russian Federation Council Chairwoman Valentina Matvienko in a statement by the Turkish parliament.

“I would like to once again express Türkiye’s clear and sincere intention to be part of new alliances that will be effective in the development of a multipolar world, such as its membership in BRICS,” said Kurtulmus.

Türkiye’s BRICS membership will make a “serious contribution to world peace,” according to Kurtulmus, who said exchanges continue between Ankara and Moscow in this context.

Kurtulmus touched on relations between Türkiye and Russia and said Ankara wants to continue to strengthen ties with Moscow.

He said that the two countries are approaching the goal of achieving $100 billion in trade volume, set by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Russian President Vladimir Putin, with each day.

He also said Türkiye has not participated in unilateral sanctions imposed on Russia because it will not only have political consequences but will negatively affect the Russian people.

“I would like to emphasize once again that these are not correct sanctions in terms of rule-based international relations, and that such unilateral sanctions seen in the world until now have never yielded positive results,” said Kurtulmus.

He added that Ankara hopes the Akkuyu Nuclear Power Plant will begin producing energy in 2025, and cooperation between Türkiye and Russia in energy transmission, particularly with regards to the TurkStream natural gas pipeline, is in the interest of both countries and those in the region.

Matvienko described Kurtulmus’ visit to Russia as important for Moscow, and it will take ties to a higher level and give additional momentum to inter-parliamentary relations.

She also said commercial and economic cooperation between the countries is becoming stronger, and ties are continuing to strengthen with Erdogan and Putin’s contributions.

- Gaza

Kurtulmus noted the situation in Palestine, saying that Türkiye and Russia share a common approach to crimes committed in the Gaza Strip.

Expressing they have conveyed at every opportunity that the policy followed by the Israeli government is “not the right one,” Kurtulmus said what Israel is committing is a “crime against humanity, and that they should be held accountable in international courts.”

He said Ankara is working to not only find peace in Gaza as soon as possible but to deliver humanitarian aid, to end Israel’s occupation of Gaza, recent attacks in the occupied West Bank and to establish an independent Palestinian state within the borders of 1967.

“We believe that countries such as Türkiye and Russia, which stand by the Palestinian people, must mobilize all their power to strengthen the humanitarian front and achieve peace in Palestine. We see that we have serious cooperation and a serious common perspective with Russia on this issue,” he said.

Israel has continued a brutal offensive against Gaza since a cross-border attack by the Palestinian resistance group, Hamas, on Oct. 7 last year which killed nearly 1,200 Israelis, according to Israeli figures, despite a UN Security Council resolution calling for an immediate ceasefire.

According to Gaza health authorities, Israeli attacks in Gaza have killed nearly 41,400 Palestinians, mostly women and children, and injured more than 95,700.

Tensions have also risen between the Lebanese group, Hezbollah, and Israel amid escalating cross-border attacks and growing fears of a full-scale war in the region.