MOSCOW, July 29. /TASS/. Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has called on the leaders of the BRICS nations, namely Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa to let his country join the association, the Hurriyet Daily News reported on Sunday.

“If you take us in the name of the platform would become BRICST, I said,” he told reporters in South Africa’s Johannesburg, where the BRICS leaders held a summit, on July 27.

The paper said, citing the Turkish leader, that his initiative was welcomed by the BRICS members. “Especially China says that it stands in favor of enlargement. I have seen that they are considering involving other countries in this platform. They are not opposed to it,” he was quoted as saying. “We are in the G-20 with five of those countries. I wish they take the necessary steps to let us in and we take our place in the BRICS.”

The tenth BRICS summit was held in South Africa’s Johannesburg on July 25 through 27. The leaders discussed issues of strengthening multilateral ties and the organization’s role in ensuring peace and security. Erdogan was invited to the summit as the current chair in the Organization of Islamic Cooperation.