Venezuela's embattled President Nicolas Maduro hailed a "new era" in relations with Turkey after being welcomed by counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan at his Ankara palace, saying both countries believed in a different, multi-polar world.

Maduro, who has been shunned by the West and faced deadly protests against his rule this spring, was making the first state visit by a Venezuelan president to Turkey, after holding talks in Belarus and Russia in the last days.

Venezuela has been going through months of upheaval with critics accusing the leftist Maduro of a naked power grab in July with the formation of a Constituent Assembly packed with his allies.

...