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April 14, 2021 "Turkey can create a better, stronger and fairer version of the Istanbul Convention".

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said this after the Ankara decree for the withdrawal from the international treaty to combat violence against women.

The statement by the head of state was relaunched by the Anadolu news agency during a meeting with some young people in a library in Ankara.



According to the newspaper, Erdogan, in the course of his statement, also referred to the words of the Italian Prime Minister, Mario Draghi, who last week had defined him as a "dictator".



"Naughty and rude dragons"

"The statements of the Italian prime minister" who called the Turkish president a dictator, "are impertinent and rude," said Erdogan, according to reports from the Turkish news agency Anadolu.



An ax on relations between Turkey and Italy

"He was not even elected and damages relations between Turkey and Italy".

Thus the Turkish president, speaking of the Italian premier who last week called him a dictator.

"The exit of the Italian prime minister denotes a total lack of balance and absolute impertinence. His words hit like an ax the relations between Italy and Turkey, which had reached a very good level until Mr. Draghi he spoke like this. He was nominated, he was not even elected. Before you talk about Erdogan in these terms, keep your history in mind, "said the Turkish president. 



Draghi's words

Last week, during a press conference, the Italian premier had defined Erdogan as a "dictator that is needed".

The head of the government was commenting on the episode branded as "sofagate", in other words the fact that during the visit to Ankara, the president of the EU commission, Ursula von der Leyen, was not given a chair near Erdogan and the President of the European Council, Charles Michel.

"I do not agree with Erdogan's behavior at all - added Draghi -, it was a behavior of which I am very sorry for the humiliation that President von der Leyen had to suffer". 



Tensions in progress

The premier's words had sparked an immediate reaction from Ankara.

The Turkish Foreign Ministry had already summoned the Italian ambassador, Massimo Gaiani, to express an official protest in the evening.

"We strongly condemn the unacceptable words of the Italian appointed premier about our elected president", added the Turkish foreign minister, Mevlut Cavusoglu, while the Turkish vice president, Fuat Oktay, referring to fascism, had invited Draghi to "look at the past of the his country to see what a dictatorship is ".

The following day, informed sources spoke of diplomacy at work to 'mend' what some observers call an "unprecedented crisis" in relations between Rome and Ankara.