Maduro's Brave Leadership Is Key to Venezuelan Success: Erdogan

On Wednesday, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan received Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro at the presidential palace in Ankara. After listening to the anthems of the two countries, the Bolivarian leader greeted the soldiers of the honor guard and the members of the Turkish delegation.

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Among the Turkish officials who attended the ceremony were Foreign Affairs Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu, Energy Minister Fatih Donmez, Culture Minister Mehmet Nuri Ersoy, Industry & Technology Minister Mustafa Varank, Agriculture Minister Vahit Kirisci, Transport Minister Adil Karaismailoglu, and the Central Bank President Sahap Kavcioglu.

After a protocol photo, Erdogan and Maduro held a closed-door conversation in which they discussed issues related to bilateral cooperation and international relations.

"The friendship between Turkey and Venezuela is a friendship indeed," Erdogan said during a joint press conference in which he provided details on the new cooperation agreements and gave his opinion on contemporary geopolitics.

"Venezuela had to endure multidimensional seizures. In overcoming them, the President's brave and courageous leadership made a great contribution, as did Simon Bolivar and Hugo Chavez," he said.

"Like these great leaders, my dear friend makes his name go down in history with gold letters," Erdogan stressed referring to Maduro, adding that the Bolivarian president's "stance as regards the Palestinian issue is also very much to appreciate and using this opportunity I would like to congratulate it."

The Turkish leader also pointed out that Venezuela and his nation "have a great potential of cooperation, since our economies complement each other."