Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan hailed Türkiye’s increasingly active role in Latin America, as he welcomed Venezuela’s stance on Palestine and said Ankara and Caracas would cooperate for Palestine, following a meeting with his Venezuelan counterpart Yvan Gil in Ankara on Thursday.
"Türkiye has become a more active actor in Latin America, especially in Venezuela, as a result of our visits, agreements, mutual work and increase in trade in recent years," Fidan told a joint news conference. He noted that the Foreign Ministry established a unit responsible for relations with Latin American and Caribbean countries.
Saying that Türkiye and Venezuela have been exchanging views on a wide range of issues, including regional and global developments, Fidan said they discussed the "unjust" sanctions on Venezuela and the issue of Palestine, including Israel’s ongoing massacres in Gaza.
"I would like to gladly state that we are on the same page with Venezuela on Gaza and act in harmony," Fidan said, adding that the two countries adopt the same stance on international platforms. He noted that they have decided to jointly work toward international recognition of the Palestinian state, as he said putting pressure on Israel has started producing results.
"The massacres are not over, the genocide continues but international pressure against Israel has been rising in an unprecedented manner. This is an important achievement," Fidan said, adding that they will continue to work in this regard.
On Wednesday, Türkiye welcomed Spain, Ireland and Norway's decision to recognize an independent Palestinian state.
NATO member Türkiye has been very critical of Israel for its attacks on Gaza that have killed over 35,000 people, mostly women and children, and backed steps to try its leadership at the World Court for genocide. It has repeatedly called for an immediate cease-fire, sent thousands of tons of aid and urged the West to exert pressure on Israel to allow increased aid flows to reach Gazans.
Israel has imposed a crippling blockade on the Palestinian enclave's access to food, clean water and medicine, pushing millions, particularly residents of northern Gaza, to the verge of starvation.
Türkiye has sent over tens of thousands of tons of aid, mostly food and water, to Gaza by air and sea.
The Israeli war has pushed 85% of Gaza’s population into internal displacement amid acute shortages of food, clean water, and medicine, while 60% of the enclave's infrastructure has been damaged or destroyed, according to the U.N.
Israel stands accused of genocide at the International Court of Justice (ICJ). An interim ruling in January ordered Tel Aviv to stop genocidal acts and take measures to guarantee that humanitarian assistance is provided to civilians in Gaza.
For his part, Gil said Venezuela recognizes the sovereignty and independence of Palestine and that Israel should be punished for crimes against humanity.
The two ministers signed various cooperation agreements in the health, civil aviation, education, tourism, culture and other sectors.
Türkiye’s diplomatic relations with countries in Latin America and the Caribbean date back to the second half of the 19th century, the era of the Ottoman Empire. In 1926, Chile became the first Latin American country to recognize the Republic of Türkiye, and other countries followed its lead to establish ties and open diplomatic missions. However, Ankara’s relations with the countries in the region remained friendly but mostly "dormant" until the 1990s, according to the Foreign Ministry, which notes that it was mostly caused by "distance" and Cold War ideology when Türkiye and Latin American countries were on the opposite ideological axis. Late President Süleyman Demirel’s trilateral visit to Argentina, Brazil and Chile in 1995 proved to be a turning point for relations, as it marked the first time a Turkish president had visited the region. With the establishment of the "Action Plan for Latin America and the Caribbean" in 1998 and the declaration of 2006 as the "Year of Latin America and the Caribbean" in Türkiye, relations gained new momentum. From that point on, the two sides began to pay reciprocal official visits to each other.
In February 2015, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan went to Mexico, Colombia and Cuba, becoming the second Turkish head of state to visit the region. A year later, he visited Chile, Peru and Ecuador to not only enhance economic ties but also to sign a series of military, cultural and technical cooperation agreements with the region to expand cultural interaction and diplomatic representation as part of Ankara’s multidimensional foreign policy.
Erdoğan’s visit also marked the establishment of the TIKA's first coordination office in Mexico in 2015 and the second coordination office in Bogota in 2016. The TIKA, referred to as Türkiye’s global "helping hand," has been contributing to the education, health, water, emergency and humanitarian assistance, social assistance, cultural life, transportation and agricultural sectors. It contributed around $11 million in 127 projects between 2012-2017 alone. Ankara has also increased the number of its embassies in Latin America to 18 in 2022, from six in 2002.