Turkey Erdogan's displacement of Ursula von der Leyen: leaves her without a seat at an official meeting
The expression of perplexity of the president of the European Commission during the greeting in the office of the Presidency to the top leader of Turkey managed to overshadow the agenda of the summit last Tuesday.
And that has not liked either Europeans or Turks.
Especially the latter, according to sources gathered by the
Middle East Eye
media
, which
have pointed to the EU protocol teams as responsible for the rudeness
captured by the cameras and for which Ankara was initially blamed.
In the images, it was possible to see how Ursula von der Leyen entered the office at the same time as the President of the European Council,
Charles Michel
, and the Turkish
Recep Tayyip Erdogan
.
Then, Michel and Erdogan appear sitting in the only two armchairs arranged in front of the flags of the EU and Turkey, while the European president, standing up, exhales an "Ehm!"
which is revealing.
In the final shot, Von der Leyen is sitting on a nearby sofa, a
gesture that she christened the
sofagate
.
At first, not a few blamed the scene on a diplomatic ploy by Erdogan to destabilize his guests.
After all, the world of protocol has its tricks and even its perversions.
In 2007, Russian leader
Vladimir Putin
allowed one of his pets, a large Labrador retriever, to enter his Sochi office just as he and German
Angela Merkel
, who is terrified of dogs, were getting ready to take their proper photo. .
The Teutonic kept the type.
Years later, Putin would claim that he did it unintentionally.
Returning to the photo of Ankara, there were those who even
called the diplomatic gesture "macho" on social networks
, and connected it with the recent Turkish withdrawal from the Istanbul Convention for the prevention of violence against women.
On the contrary, a senior Turkish official has assured that it was Michel's team that, days before the visit, approved the organization of the critical moment.
"However, there was no representative of the Von der Leyen team,"
this same source
tells
the
Middle East Eye
, "so we did not receive his position."
This medium also understands that the Turks have been extremely uncomfortable with the commotion caused and, above all, that they were singled out.
The reason is that, precisely,
their objective was to show their best face in that meeting
, that the Europeans put aside internal issues - the farewell to the Convention, the possible outlawing of the pro-Kurdish party HDP or the imprisonment of critical voices - and focused on foreign matters such as the refugee pact, customs agreements and maritime negotiations.
In the end, Von der Leyen and Michel reached out to the Turks and promised them European funds and a positive agenda, although conditional, they stressed, on a de-escalation of regional belligerence and a better treatment of issues such as human rights.
But the controversy of the
sofagate
ended up occupying everything.
Moments after the president's puzzled interjection, the spokesman for the European Commission,
Eric Mamer
, insisted that the woman from Brussels
"was clearly surprised"
, as she should have been treated "in exactly the same way."
Turkish Foreign Minister
Ahmet Çavusoglu
, who appears in the images sitting on a sofa opposite Von der Leyen, at first called the accusations against his country by the scene as "unjust".
"
The seating arrangements were made in accordance with the EU's suggestions
. Period. We would not disclose this fact if no accusations had been leveled against Turkey."
Other Turkish diplomatic sources go further and attribute the event to disagreements within the European delegation.
Not all the anger on social media was, in fact, projected against the Turks.
The criticism reached Charles Michel, who was questioned for sitting down at the time maintaining "silence" while his partner stood stunned.
The Spokesperson for the European Commission has stressed that, in this type of meeting, the treatment for both is equitable.
This has apparently been the case, according to images of his predecessors in office.
Something went wrong this time.
And the Turks point to Brussels:
"It is a problem created by themselves," they
emphasize to the
Middle East Eye
.
"They even brought their own internal fight to Ankara. They should have organized this trip better."
According to the criteria of The Trust Project
Know more
Turkey
Angela Merkel
Vladimir Putin
Ursula von der Leyen
EuropeBrussels build bridges to the Bosphorus
Western Europe imposes sanctions on China for Uighur "genocide" in Xinjiang
EU-Turkey Transfer of Erdogan to Ursula von der Leyen: leaves her without a seat at an official meeting
See links of interest
Work calendar
Home THE WORLD TODAY
Real Sociedad - Athletic Club
Porto - Chelsea, live
FC Bayern - PSG, live