Turkey has hatched a "trap" against von der Leyen by forcing her to sit sideways on her visit to Ankara, in what is now known as sofagate.
This was said by the French minister for Europe, Clement Beaune.
The Turks "behaved very badly", thundered the minister to RTL microphones, calling the affair a "deliberate act against us", "an insult".
Then echoing the words of Prime Minister Mario Draghi, Beaune said that the story shows the lack of respect for democracy and that there is "an authoritarian drift" that must push Europeans to be very determined with Ankara.