Τελευταία Νέα

Turkey and U.S. clash over opposition uprising in Venezuela

από | 1 Μάι, 2019 | Χωρίς κατηγορία

By Ilhan Tanir, Ahval

“In democracies, governments can only be changed by elections,” Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said in a tweet on Tuesday about the events taking place in Venezuela, reacting to “those who attempt to appoint postmodern colonial governor”  to the embattled country.

In a second tweet message, Turkey’s strongman said,

“As a country which struggled against the coups and has experienced the negative consequences of them, we condemn the coup attempt in Venezuela. The whole world must respect the democratic preferences of the people in Venezuela.”

Turkey “oppose[s] attempts to change legitimate governments via non-democratic means,” said country’s Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu in a tweet message he shared in both Turkish and English on Tuesday.

The foreign minister in the same tweet message said that Turkey is “concerned about news that there are some attempts against the constitutional order in #Venezuela…”  and the country stands “in favor of settling problems in the country through dialogue.”

AKP government’s spokesperson Ömer Çelik also held a press conference on Tuesday and directly denounced the U.S. for its attempt to appoint a president to another state and said “international law being trampled down by the U.S.”

Tension is on the rise in Venezuela as opposition leader Juan Guaido called on country’s military to uprise against the current regime of President Nicolas Maduro. Maduro is facing mounting international pressure to relinquish the presidency after the United States and some other countries have called his rule illegitimate and recognised opposition leader Guaido, head of the National Assembly, as Venezuela’s interim president as internal discontent on the economy, and shortages of food and medicine continues to soar.

Venezuelan opposition took to the streets in Caracas, according to latest reports as well as protesters took at La Carlota airbase.

The administration of Donald Trump and some of hawkish U.S. Congress members have been openly calling for the regime change in the embattled country.

White House National Security Adviser John Bolton, in a tweet message, stated, “The end of Maduro’s usurpation of power is possible. Venezuela’s armed forces should stand loyal to their people and the constitution. Democracy will be restored in Venezuela.”

Turkey’s exports to Venezuela tripled in the past year, seeing a 223 percent rise compared to the previous year, state-run Anadolu Agency reported.

The depiction of Turkey as a supporter of embattled Venezuelan President Maduro on a map serving as a backdrop to a presentation by U.S. National Security Advisor John Bolton in late January has some worried that Washington and Ankara are headed towards a serious confrontation over Venezuela.

Meanwhile, U.S. officials have been warning Turkey not to enable Maduro regime.

Erdoğan, who prides himself on being a popularly-elected president and touts Turkey as a model of democratic practices, recognises Maduro as the legitimate elected leader of Venezuela and strongly opposing the U.S. intervention in the country.

Turkey will continue to lend its support to Maduro and intends to deepen cooperation with Venezuela despite U.S. pressure, Çavuşoğlu said on April 1st, during a joint news conference in Turkey with Venezuela’s foreign affairs minister, Jorge Arreaza. Arreaza, meanwhile, was sanctioned by the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets control (OFAC) on March 31st.