President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan is leaving for South Africa this morning to attend the BRICS summit. I am excited as this is the first time I will be following a BRICS summit as close as possible. Because for quite some time now, I have been writing of the significance that BRICS countries have on the rising new world, the economic and resources aspect of it as well as its geopolitical dimension and its significance in terms of global power shifts and power showdowns.

We cannot possibly understand what is happening in the world today, the course of the trade wars and the power struggle between the East and West before comprehending and evaluating the structure called BRICS-- founded by Brazil, India, China and Russia and also includes South Africa -- the environment, formation or the alliance.

Though it seems like Turkey is still under the influene of old mindsets trying to label it as pro-third world, we have to accept that the world’s center of gravity is shifting toward the East, that the majority of resources are here, that the technology gap with the West is largely closed, that capital is running from the West to these markets, that extraordinary developments are being made in the fields of human resources and defense and that the overwhelming majority of markets are here.

Our pro-West groups can continue to undermine and hide their ignorance and bad intentions with fancy words all they like; their own masters are watching the East’s rise in awe and surprise and trying to take part in this rise in some way. Turkey’s invitation to this summit – which consists of the rising world – is extremely significant and we attach great importance to this. The period of turning a blind eye to the rest of the world for the sake of loyalty to the Atlantic center has ended.

The east and the west, the north and the south are all in our area of interest and we have an obligation to be present wherever there is action on earth. Because we are now a country of great claims. We are now beyond strategic value identifiers such as being a front country, garrison country, bridge country, which confine us and are defined based entirely on the West’s interests and security.

Therefore, this means that as a country which is a major player, as a country that takes place among the game-setters, we are in a multi-dimensional power struggle. Hence, this has to make us a partner in Asia’s rise as much as the Atlantic circle. The world is witnessing a show of “star countries” – that also includes Turkey. This great economic circle will in time turn into a vast political circle – and to a certain point, it already has. Much has been written in this column about the economic, political and security significance of BRICS, the global dimension of its power activity, and how the new world map will form.

Because the “star countries” are drawing a brand new world map. I repeatedly said that center countries are headed toward retrogression while neighboring countries are headed toward becoming central powers, that we will see the dramatics results of this in the near future, that the two coasts of the Atlantic will no longer be the center of the world and that we will witness staggering power shifts.

We emphasized that alliances involving unilateral dependency and future plans adjusted to just the EU will blind Turkey, that perhaps for the first time after a thousand years, we have to look at the West alongside the East as well as the remainder of the world, and that this is going to be a critical choice for Turkey to build the future.

In saying, “star countries are putting on a show,” I noted that Turkey might be a new power to join the five countries that will change this world. We had stated that as the West hides behind ridiculous excuses to close itself off to Turkey, a generation that will revive global economy in the “new economic circle” that includes Beijing, Moscow, Jakarta, New Delhi, Ankara and Brasilia is in formation, that investments are being made in common areas of cooperation, that approaches to global policies are starting to become alike and had also asked whether Turkey would be one of the countries to change the world.

We got our answer. This has now blatantly become an undeniable reality. This is the biggest development after the new world order designs that were declared post-Cold War in Washington, Brussels and London, and largely resulted in a fiasco!

Those who debate the “axis shift” for Turkey need to be told that the world’s axis has shifted. Really, there are very serious global power shifts happening. The U.S. and Europe have lost their power of global hegemony. It is no longer a monopoly in economy, politics and the military. New economic capitals, new political centers are forming.

Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa, which we call “BRICS countries,” are going to continue to take steps that will deeply impact the world’s economic and political center of gravity. Take note, they are going to lead to severe tremors in fault lines, as if to destroy the “third world” perception.

Let’s remember the first BRICS summit held in 2009 in Yekaterinburg, Russia. These countries, which hold 15 percent of the global national income, which are expected to make up four of the world’s top five economies in 2050, which make up almost 70 percent of global growth and control a significant portion of world resources, had gathered for the first time to put forth a joint stance.

Very important decisions such as changing the world economic system, breaking the U.S. dollar’s hegemony, strengthening national currencies, forming a new world reserve currency, acting jointly against the economic crisis and avoiding the use of the dollar currency in the trade among them, were taken at this summit.

Now, the countries – including Turkey – are testing the world’s centers of gravity as well as their own power with their attitudes toward areas of crises. This is a struggle for power, a struggle for existence. Besides China and Russia, countries such as India, Turkey and Brazil, are progressing with determined steps to stand out as new players, as the active powers in their own regions. As long as there is no extraordinary change, these countries are going to continue to question the existing status quo, strengthen their positions accordingly and policies that are focused on taking a rightful share from global power. Because the world’s bosses are not as strong as they used to be. The new central powers are strictly against the role of these countries and are insisting on their own rights. They are no longer easy to convince.

We can see BRICS countries as BRICS-T. This will be the point of objection to the West’s centuries-long hegemony. Centuries later, as the West pauses, retrogresses from time to time, ages, we are seeing an incredible rise in the East. This is going to turn the world’s power map upside down. Turkey must take place in this rise without hesitance.