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Ursula von der Leyen in her speech in the European Parliament: "This shows how far there is still to be before women are treated as equals"
Photo: POOL / REUTERS
"I felt hurt and left alone, as a woman and as a European": three weeks after the diplomatic scandal during her visit to Turkey, EU Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen made serious allegations.
Just because she was a woman, she was not treated according to her office, said von der Leyen in the European Parliament.
During the visit at the beginning of April, only EU Council President Charles Michel was allowed to sit in an armchair next to Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.
Von der Leyen, however, had to sit on a sofa to the side.
The name "Sofagate" quickly established itself for the incident.
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EU visit to the Turkish President: a protocol debacle
Photo: Dario Pignatelli / dpa
"This shows how far we still have to go before women are treated as equals," said von der Leyen.
She herself is privileged because she can defend herself.
However, millions of women who are injured every day cannot.
Thousands of much worse incidents would never be known.
"We have to get up for them," tweeted von der Leyen.
The Istanbul Convention for the Protection of Women is an important instrument against this, said von der Leyen.
Turkey's withdrawal from the treaty is a terrible signal.
But it is also unacceptable that some EU states have not yet ratified the agreement and others are considering moving away.
She told Turkey that respect for women's rights is an important prerequisite for resuming dialogue and expanding joint programs.
Further de-escalation in the Eastern Mediterranean and respect for the judgments of the European Court of Human Rights are also required.
"These are our conditions for deepening our economic cooperation with Turkey."
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Council chief Charles Michel: agreed that something like this should never happen again
Photo: Olivier Matthys / AP
EU Council President Michel said of the "Sofagate" that he had publicly expressed his regret and agreed with von der Leyen that something like this should never happen again.
He also knows the criticism that he should have reacted differently in the situation at Erdoğan.
But he did not want to destroy months of work in preparation for the visit.
slü / dpa