Turkey never sides with coup-plotters: President Erdogan

ANKARA (AA): Turkey is against coup attempts anywhere in the world, said President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Friday.

“We never side with the coup-plotters and we never will. We stand against them wherever they are across the world,” Erdogan told a rally introducing ruling Justice and Development (AK) Party mayoral candidates for the eastern Erzurum province.

Citing the 2013 coup against Mohamed Morsi, Egypt’s first democratically elected president, Erdogan said: “We stood against those who organized the coup against Morsi. I haven’t spoken to the coup-plotters once since that day.”

“Now, there is a coup attempt in Venezuela, which we oppose once again. No matter where it happens, we will never side with the coup-plotters. If we believe in and support democracy, then respecting ballot boxes is what we need.” Erdogan on Thursday voiced solidarity with Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, a day after the U.S. recognized opposition leader Juan Guaido as the country’s interim leader. Guaido also called for mass anti-government protests that have filled city streets across the country. In addition to the U.S., Guaido’s declaration was also quickly recognized by Canada and several Latin American nations. Maduro has accused the opposition of seeking to stage a coup with support from Washington.

Erdogan last week said that Maduro was among the first world leaders to support Turkey in the wake of the defeated 2016 coup attempt by the Fetullah Terrorist Organization (FETO), which left 251 people martyred and nearly 2,200 injured.

Later in the day, Erdogan also spoke on his trip to Russia this Wednesday, calling it “very fruitful.”

Speaking at an AK Party dinner, he said that such visits could serve the interests of regional peace. At the meeting, Erdogan and Russian President Vladimir Putin touched on bilateral ties, as well as cooperation on security issues in Syria, where a civil war broke out in 2011 and a political solution has yet to be found. Erdogan’s Moscow visit was his first foreign trip of the new year.