A post going viral on social media (here, here, and here) claims that “India vetoed and blocked the entry of Turkey into BRICS.” This post is shared in the context of the recent BRICS Summit held in Kazan, Russia, from 22 to 24 October 2024. Under the theme “Strengthening Multilateralism for Just Global Development and Security (here),” this summit marked the addition of Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, and the United Arab Emirates to the BRICS alliance (here, here, and here). Turkish President Erdogan attended upon Russian President Vladimir Putin’s invitation, following Turkey’s official application to join BRICS in September 2024, as reported by Bloomberg. Let’s verify the claim through this article.
Claim: India vetoed and blocked Turkey’s entry into BRICS.
Fact: The claim that India blocked Turkey’s entry into BRICS is not true. A report from German news outlet Bild quoted Sinan Ulgen, a Turkish foreign policy expert and former diplomat, saying India blocked Turkey’s membership. However, Ulgen later clarified that Bild had misquoted him. Hence, the claim made in the post is Misleading.
A search using relevant keywords found no credible reports supporting the claim that India vetoed Turkey’s entry into BRICS.
In our research, we found various news articles published in October 2024 (here, here, and here) that mention this claim. These articles reported that Sinan Ulgen, a former diplomat, foreign policy expert, and a director at the Carnegie Foundation, allegedly told the German news outlet Bild that India had blocked Turkey’s entry into BRICS.
On 24 October 2024, the German magazine Bild published an article (archived link) 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.
Further, we found a news article (archived link) published by the Turkish media organization ‘Turkiye Today’ on 24 October 2024. According to this article, Turkish analyst Sinan Ulgen refuted the claims made by Germany’s Bild magazine, which stated that India had rejected Turkey’s BRICS membership.
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, “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.”
On 25 October 2024, The Economic Times published an article stating that Turkey has dismissed reports of India opposing its entry into BRICS. Additionally, multiple sources indicate that Pakistan applied to join BRICS in November 2023 (here, and here ). According to an article from The Print, Prime Minister Modi mentioned 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.”
To sum up, the claim that India vetoed and blocked Turkey’s bid for BRICS membership is not true.
