Türkiye, Venezuela keen to take bilateral ties to 'next level'

Türkiye will keep making efforts to enhance bilateral relations with Venezuela, the Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has said.

Addressing a joint press conference after talks with his Venezuelan counterpart Nicolas Maduro in the capital Ankara, President Erdogan asserted that Türkiye has “always supported Venezuela and will continue to do so in the future”.

Both sides, he said, have the will to take bilateral relations to “the next level”.

There are many areas in which Türkiye and Venezuela can increase collaboration, including trade, energy, mining, construction, health and tourism, he emphasised.

“Our trade volume with Venezuela was about $150 million in 2019. We doubled it by 2020 and took it up to $850 million in 2021,” he said, adding that Türkiye’s aim is to boost the figure to $3 billion in the near future.

READ MORE: Venezuela's Maduro visits 'sister nation' Türkiye to deepen ties

'Türkiye plays a 'very important' geopolitical role'

Erdogan said that as part of continuing efforts to improve bilateral ties, a Turkish government delegation will be heading to Venezuela next month.

Maduro lauded Türkiye’s growing global influence, saying the country plays a “very important” geopolitical role in the world.

He also said that Türkiye always supported Venezuela during the most challenging times.

The two leaders also oversaw the signing of three tourism, agriculture and economic agreements before the joint press conference.

READ MORE: Top Turkish diplomat visits Venezuela to boost ties