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At a meeting between the Turkish leader and Europeans on Tuesday (March 6) in Ankara, Turkey, no chair was prepared for European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen.
The case provokes an avalanche of indignant reactions. On Tuesday March 6, during a meeting in Ankara (Turkey), Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, the Turkish President, and Charles Michel, the President of the European Council sat directly on armchairs. Conversely, Ursula von der Leyen had to be content with a couch, very little formal, far from these different interlocutors. Very quickly, this visit sparked outrage on social media, under the hashtag #SofaGate.
Turkey has been accused of trying to humiliate European delegations. Ankara decided to react, denouncing “unfair accusations”. She defends herself by explaining that the arrangement of the seats was suggested by the European parties. Charles Michel also reacted on Facebook: “The strict interpretation by the Turkish services of the rules of protocol has produced a distressing situation: the differential, if not diminished, treatment of the President of the European Commission”. On Thursday evening April 8, Mario Draghi, the head of the Italian government, described Recep Tayyip Erdoğan as “dictator”.
