President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan on Wednesday said that they did not receive any demand regarding the transfer of Venezuela’s Nicolas Maduro to Türkiye, before the latter was captured by the United States over the weekend.
Recently, it was reported that Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro was offered to leave office and go into exile in Türkiye before the U.S. military captured him in Caracas, U.S. Senator Lindsey Graham said.
Speaking to reporters, Graham said Maduro “could be in Türkiye today, but he’s in New York,” referring to his current detention in the United States.
“He chose to defy President Donald Trump and the U.S. military, and he is in jail,” Senator Graham expressed.
On Jan. 3, U.S. special forces captured President Maduro in a nighttime raid in Caracas, taking him into U.S. custody amid airstrikes on military targets.
The operation, authorized by President Trump, stemmed from long-standing federal indictments.
Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, appeared in a Manhattan federal court on Jan. 5.
The surprise capture has drawn widespread international attention and sparked debate over its legality and implications for Venezuelan sovereignty.
