Turkish leader Recep Tayyip Erdogan has once again thrown his weight behind Venezuelan President Maduro, saying Western attempts to oust him are anything but democracy and rule of law.
“Is Venezuela yours?” Erdogan asked, speaking before Turkish lawmakers, but apparently addressing Western countries backing self-declared interim leader Juan Guaido.
The West, he said, is pushing for “an unlawful decision,” by which he seems to mean President Nicolas Maduro being removed from power. So, Turkey doesn’t accept “the world where might is right.” Erdogan stressed that “we are against this imperialist stance.”
In late January, when the crisis was in full swing, Ankara criticized the US for its continued interference with Venezuela’s domestic affairs. Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu called Guaido’s self-appointment “very strange” while Erdogan voiced solidarity with the elected president, publicly saying, “Maduro, brother, stand tall”.
Erdogan himself went through an attempted coup in 2016, which Ankara says originated from a US-based self-exiled cleric Fethullah Gulen, whom Washington refused to extradite to Turkey.
Political ties between Ankara and Caracas have flourished since 2016, when Maduro paid four visits to Turkey. In 2018, Erdogan travelled to Venezuela in a reciprocal visit, the first in history by a Turkish head of state.