China News Service, April 10 (Dong Hanyang) The three leaders and two chairs made the meeting between the EU and Turkey "extraordinarily embarrassing."

　　On the 6th local time, when Turkish President Erdogan met the visiting European Commission President Von der Lein and European Council President Michel, there were only two chairs in front of the three, and a sofa in the distance. .

　　Was it the fault of the Turkish government or was it deliberate?

The two "chairmen" who will sit and who will not sit?

In the end, Von der Lein sat on the side sofa.

After the video was exposed, the meeting aroused intense discussions on foreign social media. The interpretation of various aspects of diplomatic relations, international etiquette, position and rank, and gender equality continued to ferment...

On the 6th local time, Turkish President Erdogan will meet visiting European Commission President Von der Lein and European Council President Michel.

Image source: Screenshot of Zhongxin Video.

Embarrassing scene!

Von Delane "no chair to sit"

　　The live video showed that after Erdogan and Michel sat down on the only two chairs in the center of the venue, Von der Lein stood beside him, with his arms stretched briefly and his palms up, seemingly after making a "uh". Sitting on the sofa aside, face to face with the Turkish Foreign Minister.

　　As the EU leader and the only woman among the three who visited Turkey, Von der Lein was "marginalized" in the seating arrangement, which quickly caused controversy.

　　The “Washington Post” pointed out that the Turkish Foreign Minister’s status is relatively low in typical diplomatic occasions, which obviously does not conform to diplomatic reciprocity etiquette; and the topic “#sofagate(Sofagate)” on social media has become a heated discussion. topic of.

　　This dramatic incident not only made people doubt the effectiveness of the meeting, but also set off several rounds of "controversies" on social media and diplomatic circles. All parties fought each other in the air and talked and talked about each other. For a while, it was so lively.

But behind the scenes, what deep-seated problems did the incident expose?

European Commission President Von der Lein (left) and European Council President Michel.

Multi-party "talking"

Who is right?

[First round: Netizens "slammed" Michel and Erdogan for eating melon]

　　After the live video was exposed, the dissatisfaction of netizens first spread to Turkish President Erdogan who was on the scene.

Some netizens believe that this is Turkey's disrespect for Von der Lein, "this proves how stingy Erdogan is."

　　Some netizens posted a photo of "Von der Lein carrying a chair", suggesting that von der Lein do the same next time he goes to Turkey, and joked that "there will be no more sofa doors".

A picture of "Von der Lein holding a chair" issued by a foreign netizen.

Image source: screenshots from social media.

　　Discussions about suspected "sex discrimination" at this meeting are endless.

Sophie Interveld, a member of the European Parliament, listed "evidence" on social media.

She pointed out that when Erdogan was meeting with the former male EU leader, the three leaders were sitting side by side in the same chair. “This is not a coincidence, this is deliberate.”

When Erdogan met with former male EU leaders, the three leaders sat side by side in the same chairs.

Image source: screenshots from social media.

　　The European People's Party, the largest party group in the European Parliament, declared that “women deserve the same recognition as their male colleagues.” Some netizens even directly ranked von der Lein as a “C position” in the picture.

In the P picture, the netizen put von der Lein in the "C position" with a chair.

Image source: screenshots from social media.

　　And Michelle, who was "safely seated" at the scene, was criticized by netizens for "failure to defend his colleagues."

A netizen said, “You should have refused to take a seat until Von der Lein had a seat.” Some netizens simply pointed to Michelle another “road”-“Sit on the sofa next to Von der Lein.”

　　Others said, “I’m sad because Michelle missed an opportunity to show how Europe upholds the principle of equality between men and women under any circumstances.”

　　In response to this, Michelle responded on the evening of the 7th, saying that he regretted "differentiating treatment and even despising the European Commission President."

However, he denied that he was "indifferent" to von der Lein's situation in the photo, saying that it was "a lot different from the truth."

[Second round: Von Delane "confronts" the Turkish Foreign Minister]

　　The incident continued to ferment, but von der Lein never responded directly to the matter.

However, the European Commission spokesperson Eric Mamei said that in fact, Von der Lein was surprised by the matter, "The President of the European Commission should be seated in the same way as the President of the European Council."

　　Foreign media commented that, ironically, the main purpose of this trip of the EU's highest-level female leader who was “squeezed out” was to get Turkey to rejoin the Istanbul Convention.

The convention is an international treaty aimed at protecting women's rights and interests.

　　Turkey announced its "withdrawal" in March 2021. Officials of the country believe that domestic laws can protect women's rights better than international treaties.

However, von der Lein said that she was "concerned" about Turkey's measures to safeguard women's rights.

Data map: Turkish President Erdogan.

　　Member of the European Parliament Garcia Perez said that Turkey not only withdrew from the "Istanbul Convention", and now it "has not prepared a seat for the President of the European Commission" during an official visit. This is shameful.

　　However, Turkish Foreign Minister Cavusoglu responded on the 8th, saying, "There are some unfair accusations against Turkey...The conferences held in Turkey used international etiquette."

　　Cavusoglu also pointed out that the seating arrangement is based on EU recommendations. "Our concierge has met before and their (EU) requirements have been met."

[The third round: Italy, France and Turkey "choking each other"]

　　However, the aftermath of the incident continues to spread.

After Turkey expressed its position, some EU member states have spoken out and condemned Turkey.

　　Italian Prime Minister Draghi took the lead in attacking Turkey on the 8th.

When talking about the "sofa door", he said that Erdogan's move was "humiliating" Von der Lein, and he "absolutely disagrees with Erdogan's behavior towards Chairman Von der Lein."

Data map: Italian Prime Minister Draghi.

　　The Turkish Ministry of Foreign Affairs did not show any weakness. As soon as Draghi had finished speaking, he immediately summoned the Italian ambassador to Turkey to protest Draghi's remarks.

　　French government spokesman Attar later said that when Von der Lein and Turkey were negotiating, the lack of chairs was "a terrible and shocking situation."

It is expected that the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs will also issue an official statement on this matter.

chain reaction

Who is the "speaker" of the EU?

How does the relationship between Turkey and Europe go?

　　A "sofa door" quickly made Turkey and the European Union make headlines in major media.

Whether this is a "property error" or "deliberate negligence" is currently unknown.

　　Behind this embarrassing incident, the long-standing confusion about "who is the true spokesperson of the EU" has also been mentioned again.

　　"European Times" pointed out that according to the "European Union Treaty", the European Commission ranks fourth in the "priority order of senior officials in European institutions", behind the European Parliament, the European Council and the European Council.

Therefore, Michelle has a higher status in diplomacy.

　　In practice, however, the President of the European Commission seems to have become the representative of "the EU's closest head of government."

European Commission spokesperson Ma Mei said that Von der Lein and Michel were "both chairmen of European institutions, so they have the same level of etiquette."

Data map: In Edirne Province, Turkey, immigrants are walking to the Turkish-Greek border.

　　On the other hand, will a small chair regenerate the rifts between the EU and Turkey that have just started to heal?

　　In 2020, first, the war in Idlib, Syria, continued to escalate, and Turkey "opened the gates and released refugees" to pressure the EU to seek support; later, Greece and Cyprus were at war with Turkey due to gas exploration problems in the Eastern Mediterranean; and Countries such as Turkey and France are also constantly in disagreement on issues such as the conflict in the Naqqa region and the fight against terrorism.

　　However, in recent times, relations between the EU and Turkey in many areas have tended to ease.

The two leaders of the European Union visited Turkey at the same time, and they were rated as “rare”.

　　The reason is that for the EU, Turkey’s cooperation is indispensable for solving immigration and refugee issues, while for Turkey, its economy and trade rely on EU support.

In addition, according to analysis, the Turkish side has not completely abandoned the idea of ​​joining the European Union.

　　However, analysis believes that the improvement in the relationship between the EU and Turkey is mostly due to the compatibility of the interests of both parties.

The future relationship is still in a state of "taking one step at a time".

(Finish)