Turkish President, Recip Tayip Erdogan, and Russian President Vladimir Putin, are expected to meet this week on the margins of the BRICS suummit, which is taking place in South Africa on Wednesday and Thursday (25-26 July).
The five BRICS countries are Brazil, China, India, Russia and South Africa. Erdogan will attend the summit in his capacity as current Chairman of the Organisation for Islamic Co-operation (OIC). BRICS countries are emerging large economies, and the grouping is often seen as a counterwieght of the G7 countries which groups the world's advanced economies.
Turkey under President Erdogan also aspires to be one of the top ten economies in the world, and this first high level participation of Turkey at a BRICS summit is unlikely to be the last.
After participating in the BRICS summit, President Erdogan will also pay an officiaol visit to Zambia. In recent years Turkey has cultivated close relations with African countries and President Erdogan has paid official visits to twenty African countries since assuming the presidency in 2014. Turkey also has a large network of embassies and diplomatic missions across the continent.
source: commonspace.eu
photo: President Erdogan of Turkey welcomes President Putin of Russia in Ankara for a summit in 2017 (archive picture)
