The Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan told Maduro over the phone to stand tall The Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro severed ties with US after they declared their support for the opposition leader ISTANBUL: Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan called Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and offered his support after a Venezuelan opposition leader declared himself interim president, a spokesman for the Turkish president said on Thursday. “Our president called and extended Turkey’s support to Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and said ‘My brother Maduro! Stand tall, we stand by you!” Ibrahim Kalin said on Twitter. Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaido declared himself interim president on Wednesday, winning the backing of Washington and many Latin American nations and prompting socialist Maduro, who has led the oil-rich nation since 2013, to break relations with the United States.