Erdoğan says no offer was made to send Maduro to Türkiye before US capture video

On January 7, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan dismissed claims that the United States had offered Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro the chance to leave office and go into exile in Türkiye before a U.S. military operation captured him earlier this month.

Erdoğan said Ankara had not received any request or proposal related to a possible transfer of Maduro to Türkiye before his capture by U.S. forces, Caliber.Az reports, citing Turkish media.

“We have not received any such news,” Erdoğan told reporters, rejecting reports circulating in U.S. and international media that Maduro might have been offered asylum in Türkiye as a way to avert a raid. 

The claim originated with U.S. Republican Senator Lindsey Graham, who said Maduro “could be in Türkiye today, but he’s in New York,” referring to Maduro’s detention in the United States after he was seized by U.S. special operations forces in Caracas on January 3. 

Graham has repeatedly said, “Maduro has nobody to blame but himself. Trump gave him a way out. He chose to defy Trump and the U.S. military, and he is in jail where he deserves to be.” 

U.S. forces captured Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores in a pre‑dawn operation dubbed Operation Absolute Resolve in the Venezuelan capital, later flying them to New York to face federal charges including narco‑terrorism and drug trafficking.

The raid drew global attention and controversy, with critics calling it a breach of international law. 

By Aghakazim Guliyev