Italy’s prime minister Mario Draghi labelled Turkish leader Recep Tayyip Erdogan a “dictator” as he pushed the absolute leader for his treatment of the EU Commission leader at a meeting.
Ursula von der Leyen was in Ankara on Tuesday with European Council chief Charles Michel for a relationship with Erdogan on Turkey-EU relations.
Video footage shot inside the official hall told the two men taking seats collectively, while von der Leyen was left forced to sit separately from the men on a sofa.
Turkish foreign minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu responded on Twitter: “We are completely denouncing the unacceptable populist rhetoric of Italian Prime Minister Draghi and his rough and outrageous statements of our elected President.”
Erdogan has faced a wave of judgment following the particular incident, which came shortly after he withdrew Turkey from the Istanbul Convention, a worldwide treaty on preventing domestic violence.
Turkey claims it to be followed by “the EU side’s demands” and that both sides’ protocol, as well as units, have worked together.
The European Council issued a report on Thursday claiming its protocol service had been unable to see the interview room because
Turkey deemed it “too close to President Erdoğan’s office.”
A number of MEPs were unimpressed.
Charles Michel, for his part, did not feel at the time and went along with the seating arrangement.
He did not offer up the seat to von der Leyen — the first female president of the European Commission — notwithstanding both being of equal rank. He said he was “sad” but halted short of apologising.