Von der Leyen did not get a chair when European Union leaders negotiated with Erdogan

#Esophagus The anger in Brussels that many felt when they saw Recep Tayyip Erdogan welcoming European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen in Ankara became known as Brussels.

Today, Tuesday, the leaders of the European Union, the President of the European Council, which brings together the prime ministers of the member states, Charles Michel, and the President of the Commission, von der Leyen, visited the Turkish capital to meet with Erdogan. . But only two meeting chairs were set up by the Turkish organizers in the main place, so von der Leyen had a seat on the sofa.

It can also be seen in the meeting footage that the committee chair was not there for the sake of the solution either, slipped “Ähm …” from his mouth, as According to a rapid analysis by Politicio At the same time, there was astonishment at the situation, and at the same time, there was a rejection of what was happening here. Von der Leyen is the first woman to chair the committee, so her removal was sent by many to send an unpleasant message in a number of ways.

The Brussels newspaper also reports that Michel froze upon seeing the situation and did not talk about it and did not hand over his seat to the Chairperson of the Commission. According to the employees of the current head of the council, everything went according to the protocols anyway, since basically Erdogan met with Michel, only von der Leyen was accompanied by the chairman of the council.

The Turks also claim that they do not want to harm anyone, and the European Union delegation found preparations sufficient in advance. However, the committee informed the committee that no implantation issues had previously been raised.

According to Politico, this is not an issue that is difficult to jump over anyway: On the one hand, the Turks had to do as many chairs as the number of participants in the meeting, and on the other hand, the Turks had to do so. The Minister sat on another couch opposite von der Leyen, and a diplomatic insult was made obvious enough.

Due to the complex three-fold division of powers between the European Union, it is not easy to determine, of course, which of the Council Chair and the Commission is the oldest during a diplomatic visit, but the Chairman of the Executive Committee is closer to the President. Politico also points out that they have never seen the Commission and the Speaker receive such a different reception at any summit.

According to UNHCR sources in the paper, von der Leyen was not present at all and had a long and frank conversation with Erdogan, including issues such as Turkey’s withdrawal from the Istanbul Agreement and the status of women’s rights in Turkey.

At a press conference after the meeting, von der Leyen described his first meeting with Erdogan as interesting, but stressed that his goal is to establish a sincere relationship between the European Union and Turkey through which the two parties can raise what they see differently. The Chair of the Committee emphasized that respect for basic rights and the rule of law is the basis for a good partnership and expressed his deep concern about Turkey’s withdrawal from the Istanbul Agreement. At the short press conference, he repeatedly said that he saw this as a bad sign.

Erdoan spent two hours with Michel and von der Leyen anyway, more than previously discussed. According to Michel, the Turkish president was informed that the European Union is ready to develop a concrete and positive plan for the relationship between the two sides, which includes issues of economic cooperation and migration.