How Venezuela has united Erdogan, Turkish left
In the ongoing crisis in Venezuela, Turkey's left is finding itself aligned with President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s foreign policy.
Alongside its ramifications for international politics, the Venezuela crisis served as an interesting indicator of how Turkey’s left could be a useful auxiliary to Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s foreign policy. From the day the last crisis erupted in the Latin American country where hundreds of thousands of people filled the streets of Caracas in protest to the autocratic regime of Nicolas Maduro, with the President Donald Trump’s recognition of Juan Guaido as the legitimate interim president of Venezuela, the Turkish left displayed a fierce solidarity with the Maduro regime.
Maduro’s best friends are Russia, China, Cuba and Turkey. Erdogan, in December 2018, visited Caracas, where he was received with great fanfare. The Venezuelan leader visited Turkey several times and socialized with all symbols of public life ranging from television talk show hosts, actors of soap operas, to steakhouses that celebrities frequent in Turkey.
The plight of the Venezuelan people during the last couple of years saw the largest movement of refugees in the recent history of Latin America. The complete collapse of Venezuelan socialism had not been a concern of ideological and theoretical discussion for the Turkish left. But what the catastrophe of Venezuela could not do, the latest crisis that pitted Maduro against Trump, the European Union and the majority of Latin American countries has.
Anti-American and pro-Maduro sentiments began to circulate in the social media. Hurriyet reporter Ismail Saymaz, a self-styled leftist, was blunt, defiant and sarcastic on Twitter Jan. 23, writing, “Yes, I am anti-American dude! That's how I am; generally, whatever America stands for, I am against it. Do you have anything to say?”
