President of Türkiye Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has spoken on the U.S. military operation in Venezuela that led to the capture of President Nicolás Maduro, warning against violations of international law and regional instability.
Speaking after a cabinet meeting in Ankara, Erdoğan said he had raised the issue in a phone call with U.S. President Donald Trump on Monday (5 January), stressing that "Venezuela must not be driven into instability".
“We do not condone any action that violates international law,” Erdoğan said, adding that breaches of national sovereignty were "risky steps that can lead to serious complications globally".
He described the abduction of Maduro as “saddening” and said Türkiye would continue to act in what it viewed as the best interests of both Ankara and the Venezuelan people.
“President Maduro and the Venezuelan people have repeatedly shown that they are friends of our nation,” Erdoğan concluded.
The U.S. operation, conducted on Saturday (3 January) in Caracas, involved strikes on key military installations and the capture of Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, by U.S. special forces.
They were later flown to New York, where they face federal charges including narco-terrorism and cocaine trafficking.
Maduro pleaded not guilty in court on Monday.
According to a statement from Türkiye’s Communications Directorate, Erdoğan and Trump also discussed bilateral relations, defence industry cooperation and wider regional and global developments.
The two leaders exchanged views on Türkiye–U.S. ties and touched on the situation in Gaza, which Ankara has described as a key foreign policy priority.
Erdoğan has previously said that humanitarian conditions in Gaza, developments in the Russia–Ukraine war and the need for peaceful solutions would feature in discussions with Washington.
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