MOSCOW, July 29 (Itar-Tass) - RIA Novosti. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, during a meeting on the margins of the BRICS summit in Johannesburg (South Africa), urged the leaders of the bloc to allow Turkey to join the BRICS, the Hurriyet Daily News reported.

"I said if you accept us into the alliance, the bloc will be called BRIQUEST," Erdogan told journalists on July 27, adding that BRICS members "warmly welcomed" his proposal.

"We are entering the G20 with these five countries (BRICS.-Ed.), I would like them to take the necessary steps to accept us, and we took our place in the BRICS," the president said.

As previously reported, Russian President Vladimir Putin said that it is not yet planned to increase the number of BRICS countries, but noted that the leaders of the BRICS countries did not rule out the expansion of the number of participants in the group. He added that candidates for joining the BRICS are willing, but all colleagues in the organization are cautious about this. According to the Russian president, "the organization is open," but the question of joining new members requires "further elaboration."

The BRICS Summit was held from 26 to 27 July in Johannesburg. During the meeting, the leaders of the countries signed the Johannesburg Declaration on the results of ten years of work of the organization. The document was signed by Russian President Vladimir Putin, Chinese President Xi Jinping, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Brazilian President Michel Temer and host of the current anniversary summit - South African leader Cyril Ramafosa.