Protocol insult to the President of the European Commission in Turkey and Brussels expects an explanation from Ankara

Brussels-Sana

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen was insulted after she was forced to sit on a side seat during her meeting with European Council President Charles Michel with the President of the Turkish regime, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, in Ankara yesterday.

The Italian news agency AKI quoted a spokesman for the European executive, Eric Mamer, as saying that “the Chairperson of the Commission von der Leyen was surprised by the protocol error, but decided to overlook and give priority to the substance, but this does not mean that she does not attach importance to the incident,” indicating that she “expects to be treated according to the rules. The protocol and asked her office to ensure that this type of incident does not recur in the future.

In video clips posted on the Internet, Line appeared astonished, as she appeared without knowing where to sit while the President of the European Council and Erdogan sat in two chairs in the middle of the hall and sat opposite the Turkish foreign minister, whose position is lower than in the protocol hierarchy.

For her part, a member of the European Parliament, Pina Pecherno, said that the President of the European Commission, von der Leyen, had to leave the meeting, noting in her tweet on Twitter, “two for three”. Many also saw that the situation in which von der Leyen was exposed was a deliberate insult by Erdogan. To a woman who occupies the position of head of the European executive body, and some saw her as a message from Erdogan to the Europeans about the status of women in his country, and others accused Michel of acting in a masculine way, as he could simply give his place to her or request an additional seat.

This incident took place at a sensitive diplomatic stage during which the European Union and Turkey seek to revive their relations after a year of tension, and the Europeans do not hide their concerns about violations of basic rights in Turkey, especially the Turkish regime's decision to withdraw from the Istanbul Convention to Combat Violence Against Women and Children.