Türkiye opposed to unilateral sanctions, external interventions in Venezuela: Foreign minister

By Muhammed Enes Calli

ISTANBUL (AA) – Türkiye is opposed to unilateral sanctions, and external interventions in Venezuela, Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan said on Friday.

At a press conference along with his Venezuelan counterpart Yvan Gil in Istanbul, Fidan said that Türkiye believes Russia should be brought to the table to revive the Black Sea grain deal, adding that other solutions have a high probability of endangering security.

Gil said that his country views Türkiye as a rising country and a guarantor of peace and development.

Earlier this week, Russia pulled out of the Black Sea grain deal, saying the Russian part of the agreement was not implemented.

The agreement, initially signed in July last year in Istanbul by Türkiye, the UN, Russia, and Ukraine, was aimed at resuming grain exports from Ukrainian ports which had been halted as a result of the Russia-Ukraine war which began in February 2022.

Regarding the attacks targeting Islam’s holy book, the Quran, Fidan said: "We believe that unless the Islamic world collectively responds to attacks on the Quran, there would be no awareness in the Western countries on the issue."

Early Thursday morning, a crowd of Iraqis stormed Sweden’s Embassy in Baghdad and set it ablaze in protest against the June 28 burning of a copy of the Quran last month by Salwan Momika, an Iraq-born man who now lives in Sweden.

Sweden's Foreign Ministry condemned the attack on its embassy in Baghdad, calling it a "serious violation" of the Vienna Convention.

Following the storming of Stockholm's diplomatic mission, Momika again desecrated a copy of the Quran, stepping on it and the Iraqi flag in front of Iraq's embassy in Sweden.