Last week, Fidan travelled to a meeting of foreign ministers in Nizhny Novgorod, Russia, with commentators speculating what this means for relations between Ankara and Brussels.

Credits: Getty Images; Author: Anadolu;

According to Fidan, some European countries are against Turkey joining the EU, so the Turkish authorities are considering BRICS as an alternative integration cooperation platform. "We cannot ignore the fact that BRICS, as an important cooperation platform, offers some other countries a good alternative", he said. "We see potential in BRICS", the top Turkish diplomat added.