This led to a cross-accusation between Brussels and Ankara. The European Parliament has called for a debate amid growing irritation.
A bitter controversy, dubbed “SofaGate”, has shaken the European Union (EU) following a light-hearted visit to European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen during a meeting with the Turkish president in Ankara.
In the video, you can see Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan receiving Von der Leyen, the EU’s chief executive, and Charles Michel, the president of the European Council, a body that represents member governments.
However, Erdogan and Michel then took their seats in front of the respective flags, while Von der Leyen remained standing without a reserved seat or place to sit.
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It can be clearly seen in the recording that Von der Leyen limited himself to highlighting the unusual situation with his simple cleaning of the neck, while Erdogan and Michel comfortably occupied the main seats and left her standing in the room until they put her on. a couch in front of the Turkish chancellor.
The President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, did not have a seat reserved for the meeting and was later seated on a sofa. Photo: AFP
The images sparked immediate controversy in Brussels, although the European Commission emphasized that Von der Leyen preferred to “prioritize the substance” of the visit over the failure of the protocol.
Commission spokesman Eric Mamer said on Wednesday that Von der Leyen “must have been seated exactly like the president of the European Council and the Turkish president”.
The decision to prioritize the content of the meeting with Erdogan, Mamer said, “does not mean that (Von der Leyen) did not give importance to the episode.”
Therefore, the German official has already instructed his team to initiate “appropriate contacts to ensure that such an incident will not occur in the future,” he added.
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The confusing episode was renamed “SofaGate” and provoked angry reactions in Brussels, where it was interpreted as easy for a senior EU official and also the only woman in the meeting.
questions
At the daily press conference, Mamer was repeatedly asked if the very structure of the European Union places Michel hierarchically above Von der Leyen.
The spokesman insisted that the two officials have the same degree of protocol. On the other hand, the European Council considers that Michel has priority in the international protocol.
But beyond the controversy over the protocol range of each, the episode opened the door to questions about sexism in the EU and even in the relationship between Brussels and Ankara.
Last week, just before the visit, Von der Leyen had publicly criticized Turkey for withdrawing from a treaty to prevent violence against women and children.
“First they withdraw from the Istanbul Convention and now they leave the President of the European Commission without a place in an official visit. Shameful “, wrote the Spaniard Iratxe García Pérez, head of the Social Democratic bloc in the European Parliament.
For his part, German MEP Sergey Lagodinsky wrote that Von der Leyen’s (“Ahem”) reaction alone “is the new term for ‘this is not the EU-Turkey relationship'”.
Meanwhile, Dutch MEP Sophie in’t Veld turned her criticism on Michel and wondered why the president of the European Council remained “silent” even after perceiving that his colleague had run out of seats.
After a day of criticism on social networks and questions from journalists, Michel responded with a post on his Facebook page, assuring that he is not “aware” of the situation, despite the impression given by the images.
The former Belgian prime minister attributed the “unfortunate” scene to a “protocol error” on the part of the Turkish side and assured that both he and Von der Leyen “chose not to make it worse by making a public incident”.
Debate
The Turkish government on Thursday defended itself against accusations against it for what it considered a failure of the protocol during its visit to Ankara and blamed the EU for what happened.
“EU demands have been met. This means that arrangements for seats have been made following their requests, “Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu told a news conference.
“The charges against Turkey are unfair. Turkey is a deep-rooted state and this is not the first time we have received foreign dignitaries, “he added.
For their part, the main political groups in the European Parliament regretted on Thursday the so-called “SofaGate”, because of the image of disunity that the top leaders of the European Union projected during their recent visit to Turkey and called for a hearing to discuss the incident.
MEP Manfred Weber, leader of the majority Conservative bloc in parliament, called for a meeting of the European Parliament with the two leaders, saying the visit “translated into a symbol of disunification”.
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The visit “should have been a message of firmness and unity from Europeans about Turkey,” Weber said, adding that “we expect more from European foreign policy.”
Similarly, Spanish MEP Iratxe García, the leader of the Socialist and Democrat parliamentary bloc, called on Thursday for Michel and Von der Leyen to be summoned to a parliamentary session to “clarify what happened and (discuss) how to respect the European institutions.” ”.
Michel and Von der Leyen’s visit to Ankara was aimed at opening a half-open door to improving EU-Turkey relations, which have been violently shaken by the continuing 2020 crisis.