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Maduro gives Erdogan a new lifeline

President Erdogan's vocal support for Venezuela's Nicolas Maduro is being echoed in the Turkish media, with TV channels broadcasting programs on past CIA coups.
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On Jan. 24, at a joint press conference with the Maltese president, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan uttered a sentence that has since made headlines. “I called President [Nicolas] Maduro on my way back from Russia and told him clearly not to give in to anti-democratic efforts, and stand tall.” Erdogan then told the press that he did not know Maduro until the coup attempt of July 15, 2016, when Maduro promptly called Erdogan to show solidarity. After that call, Maduro visited Turkey, Erdogan added. Then, looking into the eyes of the Maltese president, Erdogan complained that not a single EU leader — except for the UK — had called him after the coup to show support.

The year 2018 was one of friendship between the Turkish and Venezuelan leaders. In July, Maduro attended Erdogan’s inauguration ceremony. He also visited the set of a popular TV show, “Resurrection: Ertugrul." The show is praised in particular among the voter base of the Justice and Development Party (AKP), as it evokes feelings of both Islamic and nationalist pride. AKP media published images of Maduro during his visit wearing a Turkic warrior costume. Maduro has said he enjoys "Resurrection: Ertugrul" — a compliment that went deep into the hearts of the Turkish public. Maduro has also openly expressed his fondness for Erdogan — or, as he says his name, "Endrogan" — and called him “the leader of a new multipolar world.” In December, Erdogan visited Venezuela and received an extravagant welcome fit for a hero.

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