The oil, gas and gold-rich Venezuela has been in turmoil since Juan Guaido, an opposition leader, declared himself as interim president. In a short period of time the crisis rapidly escalated and became a hot topic for the international community.
Donald Trump's America was the first to announce its open support for Guaido by recognizing him as the Venezuelan president and backing his coup attempt against elected-President Nicolas Maduro.
Washington even attempted to intervene in Venezuela's domestic balances and called for the country's armed forces to overthrow the Maduro government. U.S. officials stated that all options, including a military coup against Maduro, the successor of late legendary Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, are
on the table.
Despite the fact that President Trump aims to follow an isolationist policy as proved with the U.S. withdrawal decision from both Afghanistan and Syria, Washington's expansionist move in Venezuela is not something surprising. It is because the U.S.' traditional imperial foreign policy is not a secret in international relations.
Meanwhile, "pro-democracy" European countries joined America and took a position against the elected Maduro government. Except for Italy and Greece, all EU member states are currently following in the footsteps of Washington in the Venezuelan conflict. The first thing EU countries did, for example, was to approve economic sanctions to be imposed against the Maduro administration. They later froze Venezuela's foreign assets and recognized the illegally-appointed ambassadors by Guaido.
The U.S. and EU's interest-based involvement in the Venezuelan crisis is a reminder that their imperial agenda is still fresh.
Besides, Russia and China, the super rivals of the "Western world," are standing with the Maduro government but not with t
he Venezuelan people. I do not even want to mention how Venezuela's Latino neighbor countries wish to see the collapse of Venezuela.
Well, what about Turkey, a good partner of Venezuela? Did Ankara manage to take a fair position?
President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan is a leader who has always gone to the polls whenever Turkey faced domestic or foreign problems in the issue of legitimization. Thus, his stance on Venezuelan turmoil is based on democratic principles. According to him, the fate of Venezuelan politics should only be determined by the Venezuelan people themselves and not by other countries or actors. Democracy and elections exist as a sole mechanism to fix problems, including Venezuela, Erdoğan believes. Therefore, Erdoğan hasn't recognized the self-proclaimed presidency of opposition leader Guaido and announced his position for democracy in Venezuela.
To cover the stories in Venezuela, I went to the capital Caracas in the name of my newspaper. I had a chance to ask both pro and anti-Maduro groups on the streets about what they really think about the ongoing crisis in their homeland. I can say that neither the government nor the opposition are in a united mood; however, it is safe to conclude that the common expectation of the Venezuelan people is similar to that of Turkish society when it comes to foreign countries. More clearly, both Maduro supporters and the opposition demand that foreign states defend Venezuela's democratic structure. They ask for Venezuela, despite its serious administrative problems, to develop and improve its own domestic dynamics. At the end of the day, the two fronts in the country agree on the struggle against imperialism.
I hope Maduro's call for early elections may help bring peace and reconciliation in Venezuelan society, as they deserve a better future for their country.