Western coup taking place in Venezuela: Russian envoy

By Tugcenur Yilmaz and Muhammed Ikbal Arslan

ANKARA (AA) - Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaido's claim to the presidency is "illegitimate" and part of a "Western-backed coup," said Russian’s ambassador to Turkey on Thursday.

Aleksey Yerhov, speaking at a panel on Turkish-Russian relations in the capital Ankara, said that the West does not care whether the opponent of Venezuela's President Nicholas Maduro is illegitimate.

Yerhov called the Western interference in Venezuelan affairs a "coup" against the elected president.

He added that the Western countries impose their own interests in the name of democracy.

- ‘Arab Spring showed failure of street protests’

Speaking on the situation in Syria, the diplomat expressed hope that a new era is set to begin after the end of the Arab Spring.

The Arab Spring showed that street protests do not bring hope or prosperity, he said.

Yerhov said that Turkey, Russia, and Iran have taken constructive steps to peacefully resolve the Syrian crisis by using diplomacy, but that a solution remains distant.

He also stressed the importance of progress in Idlib, Syria and understanding the nature of disputes east of the Euphrates, where Turkey has promised an operation against the terrorist YPG/PKK.

On the U.S. withdrawal from Syria, Yerhov questioned Washington’s post-withdrawal agenda.

Syria has been locked in a vicious civil war since early 2011, when the Assad regime cracked down on protesters with unexpected ferocity.

Since then, hundreds of thousands of people are believed to have been killed and millions more displaced by the conflict.