• EU-Turkey, von der Leyen: "Ankara respects human rights and the rule of law"

  • EU - Turkey, close to second 'diplomatic incident' for Ursula von der Leyen

  • Turkey.

    No armchair for Ursula von der Leyen: it is 'sofagate' for Erdogan

  • Turkey and 'Sofagate', von der Leyen to Michel: never again similar situations

  • EU, still controversy on the 'sofagate'.

    Ankara: "Protocol was followed"

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April 26, 2021 "I am the first woman to be president of the European commission and this is how I expected to be treated on the trip to Turkey, as a commission chair. I cannot find justification and I have to conclude that what happened happened. because I'm a woman ". Thus the President of the European Commission Ursulavon der Leyen speaking to the European Parliament at the debate on Turkey.



"I felt hurt as a woman and as a European - she added - this concerns the values ​​that are the basis of our Union and shows how much we still have to do to ensure that women are treated with equality".



"My visit to Turkey showed how far we still have to go before women are treated equally. Always. Everywhere," Ursula von der Leyen told the European Parliament. "My story has made headlines. But there are so many stories of women, most of them much more serious, that go unnoticed. We need to make sure these stories are told too," she added.



Women's participation makes democracy strong

"The status of women represents the status of democracy, the equal participation of women makes democracy stronger," said European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen.



Stop anti-Semitism and racism

"When we talk about respect and dignity we must not limit ourselves to equality between women and men, the issue is much broader, we cannot accept that LGBTI-free areas are multiplying in Europe, we cannot accept that Roma are discriminated against, we cannot accept we can accept the anti-Semitism and racism that we find in different corners of our Union, said Ursula von der Leyen in her speech to the European Parliament. "Europe is worth much more than that and every time I am amazed that we should talking about such obvious things in the EU, "he added. We need



de-escalation in the Mediterranean

"Respect for women's rights is fundamental for the resumption of dialogue with Turkey, but it is not the only conditio sine qua non in Ankara. I also brought another message: Turkey must provide for a de-escalation in the eastern Mediterranean, must accept the rulings of the European Court of Human Rights, these are our conditions to strengthen our economic cooperation with Turkey and carry out high-level dialogues on climate change, public health and regional issues ", said the president of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen in her speech to the European Parliament. "In these conditions it would be easier to find new resources to help Turkey manage more than 4 million Syrians - he specified -.We welcome the efforts made by Turkey in this direction ". 



Michel, I publicly confirm my commitment to women

"I realize that those images can be considered offensive, especially by women, I would like to publicly confirm my commitment, complete total absolute to supporting women in gender equality in all senses, which I have always done something else in my political career ", declared the President of the European Council, Charles Michel, in his speech to the European Parliament on sofagate.



I have expressed my regret several times over the situation that arose during the trip to Ankara. Our teams could not have access to the room. Together with the Commission we are committed to ensuring that this does not happen again in the future ", said the President of the European Council Charles Michel speaking to the European Parliament at the debate on Turkey." At that moment I decided not to react further in order not to create a political accident that it would have ruined months of political and diplomatic preparations and efforts, "added Michel." I realize that the images have made sense for many women to feel collectively offended, I would like to confirm my full and absolute commitment to supporting women and gender equality, which I have always done in my political career ",Michel added to the European parliament. "The president of the European Commission and I have strongly expressed our position to Erdogan regarding Turkey's withdrawal from the Istanbul Convention," he added.