Did India Block Turkey’s Entry into BRICS? Fact-Check

Posted by: Arun Nag November 1, 2024

A social media post has been surfacing recurrently with a claim that “India vetoed and blocked the entry of Turkey into BRICS.” The context being the recent BRICS Summit held in Kazan, Russia, from October 22 to 24, 2024.

 

While the summit significantly added Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, and the United Arab Emirates to the BRICS alliance, the claim that India blocked Turkiye (Turkey) is going viral. The claim can be accessed here and here.

FACT-CHECK

Turkish President Erdogan attended the summit upon Russian President Vladimir Putin’s invitation, following Turkey’s official application to join BRICS in September 2024, as per news reports. India has already been a member of BRICS.

The claim that India blocked Turkey’s entry into BRICS as an official member stems from a report published in German news outlet Bild, which quoted Sinan Ulgen, a Turkish foreign policy expert and former diplomat, who said India blocked Turkey’s membership. On 24 October 2024, the German magazine published an article titled “Erdogan’s BRICS dream shattered; ‘Insider: Failed because of India’”.

According to this article, Turkey’s application to join BRICS—along with its NATO membership—has reportedly frustrated its Western allies. The article also claimed that India blocked Turkey’s entry into BRICS due to Ankara’s close ties with Pakistan, a country seen as India’s adversary. Bild cited Sinan Ulgen, a foreign policy expert at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, as the source of this information.

However, Ulgen himself refuted the claim made by Germany’s Bild magazine. Ulgen clarified that the Bild article misrepresented his statements about Turkey’s diplomatic status in a post on his official X (Twitter) account on 24 October 2024 (archived link). He stated:

Translated, it reads: “I gave an interview to Bild about BRICS, but I didn’t say this. While India is not close to Turkey, it does not need to veto Turkey’s BRICS membership bid. There was no voting on this issue. Alongside India, many other countries are opposed to rapid BRICS expansion.”

Turkish media outlet Turkiye Today also reported on October 24, 2024, that Ulgen had disputed the Bild article, reiterating that he had not stated India blocked Turkey’s BRICS bid.

Indian Prime Minister Modi’s remarks read out by India’s External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar in Kazan reiterated at the 16th BRICS conference that India is open to welcoming new partners into BRICS but it’s important to note that all member countries must agree to this “unanimously.” Hence, the claim that India vetoed and blocked Turkey’s bid for BRICS membership is not true.

Claim: A viral social media post claims that “India vetoed and blocked the entry of Turkey into BRICS” during the recent BRICS Summit held from October 22–24, 2024, in Kazan, Russia.

Conclusion: Misrepresentation. India did not veto Turkey’s application to join BRICS, nor was any formal vote held on the matter.

Rating: Misrepresentation —

About Arun Nag

Arun is with Digiteye India since the beginning as the main source for re-writing copies and re-checking the facts and images. He writes on general and tech issues. He can be reached at arunnag@digiteye.in

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