President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan arrived in Venezuela early Monday morning for official talks aimed at strengthening bilateral ties.

The president and first lady Emine Erdoğan were met at Simon Bolivar Airport in the capital Caracas by Venezuelan Vice President Delcy Rodriguez, Minister of Industries and National Production Tareck El Aissami, Foreign Affairs Minister Jorge Arreaza and Defense Minister Vladimir Padrino Lopez.

Turkey's Ambassador to Caracas Şevki Mütevellioğlu and Venezuelan Ambassador to Ankara Jose Bracho Reyes were also present.

Erdoğan will meet with Venezuelan counterpart Nicolas Maduro later in the day at the Miraflores Palace. The two leaders are expected to sign several agreements and hold a joint press conference.

Venezuela is the third destination of Erdoğan's Latin America tour, which kicked off with the Group of 20 (G-20) summit in Argentina that began on Friday.

Erdoğan's trips to Paraguay and Venezuela mark the first-ever by a Turkish president.

Erdoğan kept a busy schedule at the two-day G-20 summit in Buenos Aires, meeting with eight heads of state and government, including U.S. counterpart Donald Trump and Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin.