Ursula von der Leyen is left standing next to her male counterparts in Turkey

In a video of the awkward moment in Ankara, von der Leyen seems unsure of where to stand, gestures with his right hand and says “ehm” while Erdogan and European Council President Charles Michel take their seats.

Finally, Von der Leyen was offered a seat on a nearby couch in front of Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu, who ranks lower in diplomatic protocol.

In previous meetings, the three presidents all sat together.

Eric Mamer, the European Commission’s chief spokesman, said von der Leyen “was clearly surprised and that’s something you can see from the video.” He added that “it is difficult to judge the reasons why he was offered one type of chair rather than another, you should ask the Turkish authorities about that”.

Mamer said Turkey was responsible for organizing the meeting.

He added that when it comes to “the Commission’s view abroad, what I can say is that the level of protocol of our President is exactly the same as that of the President of the European Council. Our President is a member of the European Council itself and, in general, normally, when he goes to foreign countries, he is treated in exactly the same way as the President of the European Council. “

As leader of the European Commission, the executive branch of the European Union and the strongest institution, von der Leyen is one of the most influential women in the bloc. She was previously Germany’s defense minister.

Diplomatic hiccups are particularly uncomfortable, given the EU’s recent condemnation of Turkey’s withdrawal from the Istanbul Convention, an international treaty aimed at preventing violence against women.

CNN contacted both the EU Council and the Turkish presidency for comments.