"I think they've got to be very worried. I mean, Turkey is arguably the most important NATO member outside of the US. And the fact that they're now debating whether to join into BRICS. They said they've applied. They said they'll attend the BRICS meeting … We'll see how it goes. But the US is definitely frightened," Hinkle said.
However, he also pointed to the multi-vector nature of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's policy and, in this regard, added that he himself would believe in the country's accession to BRICS when it actually happens.
Kremlin aide Yuri Ushakov said on Wednesday that Turkey had officially applied for full membership in BRICS. The Russian official said BRICS was unlikely to accept any new members at the Kazan summit in October after the member states agreed to introduce a new status of a BRICS partner state.
The Eastern Economic Forum took place from Tuesday to Friday and was hosted by the Far Eastern Federal University in Russia's Pacific coast city of Vladivostok. Sputnik was the general information partner of EEF 2024.