What's going on between Venezuela & Turkey?

There's been quite a lot of chatter lately with respect to Venezuela - Turkey relations. Gossip has it that it's due to economic sanctions imposed by the U.S. government on the Nicolas Maduro regime. Some say the trade balance will jump from under $100 million a year to over $2 billion, as per Maduro and Erdogan's new found friendship. Aside from Maduro's very own visit with the Turkish meat-cutting clown upon return from China, sources report that Maikel Moreno, Venezuela's Supreme Court Chief, is also a regular visitor. Moreno's business in Turkey remains to be described.

German Ferrer, husband of Luisa Ortega Diaz, is mentioned as a conduit between Majed Khalil, Turkish Airlines, and Caracas, in setting up Istanbul - Caracas flights. Sources report that Khalil, proxy of Diosdado Cabello and Jorge and Delcy Rodriguez, is heavily invested in hotels and other ventures in Turkey, and is also a regular visitor.

Then, there was the bit about gold and other financial deals set up between Banco Central de Venezuela (BCV) and a number of banks in dodgy jurisdictions. In that thread, TC Ziraat Bankansi AS gets a mention, as a participating correspondent bank. Noor Capital, where sources claim kingpin Tareck el-Aisami stashed some stolen funds, was allegedly looking to move chavista money into Turkey. Two names were mentioned: Armando Capriles and Olivier Couriol.

While this was happening, PDVSA was of course circumventing U.S. sanctions by further pawning away the house. Vitol, Lukoil, Rosneft and Trafigura continue to deal with PDVSA as a matter of regular business practice, despite David Boies' and PDVSA fraud lawsuits against those companies.