Venezuela and Turkey review energy agreements to strengthen cooperation
The Venezuelan Oil Minister, Tareck El Aissami, held a meeting on Sunday with Turkey's Deputy Energy Minister, Alparslan Bayraktar, to review the energy agreements established between the two nations and strengthen them.
The Venezuelan Ministry of Petroleum informed of the meeting in a press release. "New times are coming and from Venezuela we can establish all kinds of relations and cooperation with Turkey to strengthen and guarantee the development of both peoples," said El Aissami, quoted in the statement.
In the meantime, the Turkish Vice-Minister said, according to the text, that the "visit shows the commitment of our presidents and their desire to promote this cooperation".
After the meeting, El Aissami and Bayraktar toured the José Antonio Anzoátegui Petrochemical Industrial Complex, located in the northeastern state of Anzoátegui, to "evaluate and strengthen" the operations of the petrochemical industry in Venezuela.
Also present were the president of the state-owned company Petróleos de Venezuela (PDVSA), Asdrúbal Chávez, and the vice-presidents of Planning and Refining, Héctor Guillermo Felizola and Gabriel Rafael Oliveros, respectively.
Turkey and Venezuela have various agreements in different areas such as economy, defence, trade, science, tourism and culture, and furthermore share the principle of "sovereignty of peoples and non-intervention by foreigners".
At the end of 2018, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan visited the South American country and offered political and economic support to his counterpart Nicolas Maduro, who months earlier had won controversial elections whose results are not recognised by the opposition and a large part of the international community.
Venezuela and Turkey then signed a battery of agreements and Erdogan promised Maduro to "cover most of the needs" of Venezuela.
Turkey has been one of the countries, together with Russia and Iran, that have offered most diplomatic support to Maduro.
