President Erdoğan to attend BRICS summit in South Africa

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan will travel to Johannesburg, South Africa on Wednesday to attend the BRICS Leaders’ Summit. Erdoğan was specially invited to attend the “BRICS Plus” session as term chairman of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC). His participation will constitute as the first high-level contact between BRICS and Turkey.

During his visit, President Erdoğan also plans to hold bilateral talks with BRICS members as well as leaders of other invited countries. BRICS consists of five member states: Brazil, Russia, the People’s Republic of China, India and South Africa. These countries are considered as the emerging markets in world economy. BRICS Plus was initiated in 2017 to increase business partnerships with other emerging markets and developing countries, which are not BRICS members, in addition to international and regional organizations.

Erdoğan’s visit to South Africa between July 25 and 27 is important not only for the development of relations with member states but also for the development of his Africa initiative, which he started when he served as the prime minister of Turkey. Since elected president, he has travelled to 19 African countries, which has contributed significantly to the expansion of trade between the two sides.

Since 2015, President Erdoğan has visited Ethiopia, Somalia, Ivory Coast, Djibouti, Ghana, Nigeria, Guinea, Uganda, Kenya, Tanzania, Mozambique, Madagascar, Sudan, Chad, Tunisia, Algeria, Senegal, Mauritania, and Mali.