Russia and China Challenge the West: Decoding the BRICS Summit

Source: Hürriyet | Original Published At: 2026-09-13 13:11:00 UTC

Key Points

• Chinese President Xi Jinping said BRICS has entered a new stage of cooperation and announced that China will assume the BRICS chairmanship next year and host the 19th summit.
• The summit gathered leaders including Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Russian President Vladimir Putin, Chinese President Xi Jinping, and Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian.
• BRICS expanded from its original four members to 11 full members and 10 partner countries, representing nearly half of the world’s population and more than a quarter of global trade.
• The meeting brought regional rivals Iran and the United Arab Emirates into the same diplomatic space, while a joint statement called for maximum restraint in the Middle East without blaming any country.
• Expert Buğra Bekir Işılak described BRICS as an alternative diplomatic channel rather than a military alliance, emphasizing its role in dialogue among diverse actors.
• The article frames BRICS as an economic and institutional challenge to Western-led structures, citing local-currency trade, alternative payment mechanisms, the New Development Bank, and calls for reform of global financial institutions.
• Turkey’s interest in BRICS is portrayed as a way to increase strategic autonomy and diversify economic options, not as a shift away from NATO or Western ties.