Ankara  -  Turkey has submitted a request to join the BRICS group of major emerging market nations, the spokesman of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s ruling party said Tuesday.  “Our president has many times stated that we want to become a BRICS member. The process is now under way,” said Omer Celik, spokesman for the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP). After starting in the early 2000s as investor shorthand for the emerging nations of Brazil, Russia, India and China, the four nations created the BRIC international forum in 2009. South Africa joined a year later, making it BRICS, and Saudi Arabia, Argentina, Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran and the United Arab Emirates joined at the beginning of this year. Turkey participated in a BRICS summit in South Africa in 2018. “Our president has clearly stated that Turkey wants to take part in all important platforms, including BRICS,” Celik told a news conference. Erdogan said Saturday that “Turkey can become a strong country, prosperous and respected if it simultaneously develops relations with the East and West.”