Bolivia plans to open an embassy in Turkey to cement bilateral relations, Turkish presidential sources said late Wednesday.
The agreement on opening the embassy was reached at a meeting between Vice President Fuat Oktay and Bolivian President Juan Evo Morales Ayma in the Venezuelan capital Caracas.
During the meeting, they acknowledged that significant progress had been made in their countries' relations after Turkey opened an embassy in Bolivia last year.
The two countries agreed that the Bolivian embassy should be opened in the first half of this year.
Both Oktay and Morales emphasized that cooperation between Turkey and Bolivia should be increased, especially in the area of defense.
Separately, Morales said Bolivia fully supports Turkey in its fight against the Gülenist Terror Group (FETÖ), the terror group behind the July 2016 defeated coup that left 251 people killed and nearly 2,200 injured.
In addition, Oktay presented President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan's invitation to Morales to visit Turkey.
Oktay to attend Maduro's inauguration ceremony
Oktay arrived in Venezuela's capital late Wednesday to attend President Nicolas Maduro's inauguration ceremony. Speaking to reporters after landing at Simon Bolivar Airport, Oktay said Turkey and Venezuela will have the opportunity to discuss bilateral relations and regional developments.
After being welcomed by Venezuelan officials, Oktay expressed his happiness over the two countries' relations, which has made great progress recently. He said President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan's visit to Venezuela in December took bilateral ties to new levels.
Maduro is preparing to take his oath of office on Thursday to start his second six-year term.
On Monday, Erdoğan told his Venezuelan counterpart in a phone call that he will not be able to attend due to a busy schedule. The two leaders discussed bilateral relations in the call, reiterating their willingness to advance cooperation between the countries. Erdoğan also told Maduro that Turkey gives great attention to the prosperity, stability and peace in the Latin American country.
