Venezuela: Maduro pays two-day visit to Turkey

LAST UPDATE: 19:38

Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro will pay a two-day official visit to Turkey starting Wednesday, the Turkish government has announced.

Maduro has repeatedly said he will visit Turkey, one of the few countries in the world with which Venezuela has relations, amid harsh sanctions imposed by the United States.

According to a statement posted on the Turkish government’s English-language website today, the visit will discuss “the full range of relations” between the two countries and the steps that can be taken to strengthen them. The statement said that the visit took place at the invitation of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. “The two leaders are expected to exchange views on regional and international issues,” the text concludes.

Since 2018, Turkey has increased its exports to Venezuela, including food and personal care products. Caracas, for its part, sells gold to Turkey, although the quantity has not been announced.

The two countries signed seven agreements in April, during a visit to Venezuela by Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşo .lu. No clarification was given on the agreements concerning oil, gas, tourism, sports and other sectors.

Tsavousoglu has said he wants the two countries’ trade to reach $ 1.5 billion a year, up from about $ 850 million today.

Maduro was harshly criticized by the opposition when he and his wife, Celia Flores, dined at the expensive Salt Bae restaurant in Istanbul, a stop he made on his return from a visit to China in 2018. Political opponents say Maduro did Demonstration of his illegally acquired wealth in the restaurant, owned by the famous chef Nusret Gokce, at a time when many Venezuelans are fighting daily to secure something to eat.

SOURCE: ΑΠΕ-ΜΠΕ