Turkish ruling party: US Venezuela move 'illegitimate'

By Merve Yildizalp

ANKARA (AA) - Turkey’s ruling party spokesman on Thursday called Washington's move to recognize a Venezuelan opposition leader as interim president was an "insult" for the country's people.

"No country can assign a head of state to Venezuela or any other country," Omer Celik said on Twitter.

On Wednesday, U.S. President Donald Trump recognized Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaido as the interim president of the country, marking a significant escalation in the ongoing feud between Washington and Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro.

"It is nonsense and offensive for a democratic country to assign a state head for another country," Celik added, saying the move was "illegitimate."

He underlined the offensiveness of the move would "leave its mark on the world history of politics."

Countries that do not approve of the latest election in the Latin American country were "welcoming" of other leaders that had come to power in a coup and murdered their own people, Celik asserted when referring to Egypt's Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi and Syria's Bashar al-Assad.