Turkey’s Erdogan calls Venezuela's Maduro after contested elections, urges dialogue
The Turkish president stopped short of extending congratulations to Nicolas Maduro but expressed his well-wishes for the South American nation after the contested election results, according to a Turkish readout.
ANKARA — Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan urged dialogue in Venezuela on Wednesday in a first call to Nicolas Maduro since the contested elections.
Erdogan stopped short of congratulating Maduro, who claimed victory for a third term despite widespread protests and accusations of fraud and lack of transparency from international monitors.
“Turkey would continue to support the dialogue process in Venezuela, conveying his wishes for peace, prosperity and well-being to the Venezuelan people,” said the Turkish readout of Erdogan-Maduro call.
Erdogan became one of the few leaders to call Venezuela's isolated leader. But unlike Russian leader Vladimir Putin, who rushed to celebrate Maduro’s contested victory right after the elections, Erdogan stopped short of extending such a congratulatory message, according to a Turkish readout of the call.
The outcome of the July 28 presidential election in the country remains contested between Maduro and his opposition rival, Edmundo Gonzalez, after both claimed victory. Venezuela's electoral authority declared Maduro the winner, but both western capitals and international election observers cast doubt on the integrity of the results. Maduro ordered the high court, which he controls, to run an audit but has refrained of releasing data to prove his alleged victory.
Erdogan and Maduro also discussed bilateral ties as well as Israel’s war in Gaza, according to the readout.
While Ankara opposes the US-led Western economic sanctions on Venezuela, it refrains from publicly aligning with either side in the conflict between the Venezuelan government and opposition parties supported by Western capitals. The South American country is one of Turkey’s largest trade partners in the Latin American region. The two countries' trade volume exceeded $1 billion last year, official Turkish data show.
Erdogan and the contested Venezuelan leader also enjoy close personal ties. Maduro attended Erdogan’s inauguration ceremony in June 2023 after the Turkish president’s reelection victory in the May 2023 presidential elections. Erdogan also visited the South American country multiple times during his over-two-decade rule, most recently in 2018.
Turkey’s foreign minister, Hakan Fidan, met with Maduro as well as his Venezuelan counterpart, Yvan Gil, during his visit to the country in February.
Gil, for his part, has become one of the top diplomats who have visited Turkey most frequently over the past two years. Most recently, he was in Ankara in May to attend a joint cooperation council meeting between the two countries along with Fidan.
