By AFPMore by this AuthorANKARA,Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Tuesday accused the European Union of seeking to overthrow embattled Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro in defiance of "democracy." The United States welcomed the recognition, with Secretary of State Mike Pompeo urging others to follow suit. "STAND TALL"Mr Erdogan, whose government survived a coup bid in July 2016, has given support to Mr Maduro in the wake of the crisis and told him in a phone call to "stand tall." But Turkish backing for Mr Maduro has drawn the ire of the United States, and a senior US official said last week that Washington was "disappointed" with Ankara's move. On Tuesday, President Erdogan called what happened in Venezuela as an "international coup attempt to remove the country's elected leader from power."

Source: Daily Nation February 05, 2019 12:56 UTC