National Turkey's president Erdogan to attend Brics summit in Joburg BL PREMIUM

Turkish leader Recep Tayyip Erdogan will make the latest in a string of trips to Africa this week, visiting SA and Zambia as well as attending the Brics summit, the Turkish presidency said on Sunday. The five Brics countries — Brazil, China, India, Russia and SA, which are seen by analysts as rising challengers to established western economies — are holding the group’s latest summit in Johannesburg. Turkey is not a member of Brics, but Erdogan will attend a special session in his capacity as the chairman of the Organisation of Islamic Co-operation at the event, the presidency said. Vladimir Putin Previous reports have said Erdogan is due to meet Russian President Vladimir Putin on the summit’s sidelines. Russia and Turkey have been increasing their co-operation, notably on the Syria crisis. Ankara is buying Russian S-400 air defence systems in a deal that has upset the West. The Turkish presidency described Erdogan’s participation in Johannesburg as the "first high-level contact" be...