JAKARTA - The President of Turkey has denied reports about the plan to transfer the President of Venezuela to his country after leaving his post, in line with Washington's insistence.
President Recep Tayyip Erdogan denied reports that the United States had approached Turkey to offer asylum to Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro before his arrest, saying, "We have not received such news," quoted from Turkiye Today (7/1).
The statement comes amid international turmoil after US forces kidnapped Maduro and his wife in a special military operation on January 3, flying them to New York to face drug trafficking charges and other related charges.
Several US officials and media reports said Washington offered Maduro a peaceful way out, including a possible asylum in Turkey, which he reportedly rejected, leading to the raid.
Republican Senator Lindsey Graham said on January 5, "He (Maduro) could be in Turkey today, but he's in New York. Maduro can't blame anyone but himself. Trump gave him a way out. He chose to defy Trump and the US military, and he's in the prison he deserves to be in."
Meanwhile, the New York Times reported that the Trump administration gave President Maduro an ultimatum in December, telling him to "leave office and go into luxury exile in Turkey."
President Maduro rejected the ultimatum angrily, according to several US and Venezuelan citizens involved in transition talks quoted by the Times.
President Erdogan himself expressed his concerns about Venezuela after the arrest of President Maduro, during a telephone conversation with President Trump on Monday.
Speaking after Turkey's first cabinet meeting of the year, President Erdogan said he stressed to President Trump that Venezuela should not be allowed to fall into instability.
"We do not tolerate any action that violates political legitimacy and international law, wherever it takes place in the world," President Erdogan said.
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