Turkey warns against foreign meddling in Venezuela’s affairs

Turkey says those countries that have recognized Venezuela’s self-proclaimed “interim president” Juan Guaido are worsening the Latin American country’s problems.

“There is a problem in a country. There is a spark that can turn into a fire at any moment. In this case, they should have contributed to the solution of the problem through dialog,” said Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu at a press conference in Istanbul on Sunday, referring to the countries that have recognized Guaido.

“But is that how they handled things? No! On the contrary, the event was fueled from the outside. The people of Venezuela are being punished by such an approach,” he added.

The top Turkish diplomat said Ankara had tried to initiate talks regarding Venezuela last year between Washington and Latin American nations. “But today, none of the countries that have taken these steps against Venezuela has sought dialog.”

Political crisis deepened in Venezuela on January 23, when opposition figure Guaido, a lawmaker who leads the defunct National Assembly, proclaimed himself the “interim president” of the country. United States President Donald Trump was quick in officially recognizing him as such. The White House has called on other countries to follow suit in recognizing Guaido.

EA