Middle powers in the international system are seeking new diplomatic platforms to expand the space narrowed by great-power competition. Partners for Multilateralism (P4M), announced in New York on September 21, is the latest example of this search. The founding co-sponsors are:
- European Union
- Australia
- Barbados
- Brazil
- India
- Canada
- Kenya
The joint article behind the initiative was written by European Council President António Costa, Brazilian President Lula da Silva, Kenyan President William Ruto and Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney. Viewing multilateralism as a necessity, P4M aims to prevent global politics from being reduced to Washington-Beijing competition and to increase the influence of middle powers in international institutions.
Türkiye is among the 15 countries that signed the declaration; however, Ankara is not a founding co-sponsor. P4M has no treaty, secretariat or enforcement capacity; the initiative is a flexible political network.
There is no country from the Middle East or West Asia on the founding list. A NATO and G20 member and part of MIKTA, Türkiye stands out as a candidate that could address this representational gap.
Türkiye’s exclusion cannot be explained by differences over UN reform. Ankara and Canada are members of UfC; despite this, Canada took part in the founding group alongside India and Brazil. The declaration does not address debates over Security Council expansion and veto power, referring only to the UN80 process.
Why it matters
The fact that P4M is designed as a flexible political network shows that the initiative offers a diplomatic platform where countries can develop common positions, rather than making binding decisions. This structure makes the distinction between the founding co-sponsors and the countries that signed the declaration significant; Türkiye appears to have supported participation but not to have been involved in the formation’s founding stage. The absence of any country from the Middle East or West Asia on the founding list creates a gap in the initiative’s capacity for regional representation. For Türkiye, the open question is whether it can leverage its position in NATO, G20 and MIKTA to assume a more visible role in this gap, and how it can do so within P4M’s non-binding structure.
Background
Türkiye is not a new name in the FikirPilot archive: we have published 66 news reports mentioning the name in the past 90 days; the most recent is dated September 25, 2026.