Sofagate

Ursula von der Leyen

Charles Michel

Recep Tayyip Erdoğan

Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu

Sofagate is a diplomatic protocol incident that happened during the visit of President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen and President of the European Council Charles Michel to Turkey in April 2021.^[1] When Michel and von der Leyen were to meet Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, there were only two chairs prepared for the three leaders in the room in which they were received.^[2][3] Michel then seated himself in the chair beside Erdoğan while Von der Leyen was offered to take a seat on a sofa in the same room across the Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu.^[4] Many commentators described the incident as sexist, with Michel as a man taking the more prominent position than von der Leyen as a woman, despite both having the title President.^[2] Later on, Çavuşoğlu responded, saying that the seating arrangement was made in accordance with the requests of the European side.^[5]

Background[]

With Ursula von der Leyen the European Union has its first female President of the European Commission.^[6] The fact that a woman became the successor of Jean-Claude Juncker was welcomed by him and other EU politicians.^[6] Turkey has just left the Istanbul Convention which protects against violence against women in March 2021,^[7] a step which was heavily criticized by a wide array of EU politicians.^[8][1]

Protocol incident[]

As the President of the European Council Charles Michel and the President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen were to meet the Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan on the 7 April 2021, there were only two chairs prepared for the three of them in the room they were received.^[3] Charles Michel then seated himself in the chair beside Erdoğan, leaving Von der Leyen seemingly surprised.^[9][4] She was then offered to take a seat on a sofa in the same room, across the Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu.^[4] Representatives of the EU sent to inspect the location ahead of the meeting were not given access to it as the room was deemed too close to the President’s office.^[10] The EU team was able to achieve an adjustment in the seating arrangement in the dining room in order that all three mandatories were sitting in chairs of the same height.^[10] Charles Michel also suggested that von der Leyen should be included in the official photo of the meeting which initially was not planned to be the case.^[10]

Reactions[]

In the European Union[]

The fact that Charles Michel accepted that there were just two chairs and not three, caused further criticism among EU politicians.^[11] Michel defended himself mentioning he worried that had he acted otherwise, the diplomatic relations between the EU and Turkey would have been strained further and preparations met for the meeting would have been destroyed.^[11] He further mentioned that a possible cause of the distressing situation was that Turkey had strictly adhered to the diplomatic protocol^[1][12] which rates the head of the EU council above the head of the EU commission.^[10][13] Eric Mamer, the chief spokesperson for the EU Commission confirmed that Von der Leyen was surprised by the situation but preferred to focus on the matter of the meeting and not on the form of the protocol.^[14] The commission demanded that a Modus Vivendi shall be crafted to prevent such incidents in the future.^[13][15]

Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi criticised Erdoğan, accusing him of being a "dictator"

The Italian Member of the European Parliament (MEP) Massimiliano Smeriglio initiated a signature campaign demanding Michel's resignation over the incident.^[11][16] The Spanish MEP Iratxe Garcia Perez, leader of the "Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats" (S&D) lashed out against both Charles Michel and Erdoğan over the inferior treatment of the woman amongst the three leaders, accusing the two men of "micromachismo and rudeness".^[1] Many other Members of the European Parliament were also said to be moved by Michel's lack of reaction to the incident, while Belgian MEP Assita Kanko asked, "Why did Michel sit down? Why couldn't he... look at Ms. von der Leyen and show his solidarity".^[17] The Dutch Member of the European Parliament Sophie in 't Veld mentioned that in a former meeting between the two EU leaders and Erdoğan, all three were seated in chairs.^[18][1] She also criticized Ursula von der Leyen for refusing to take a stand, in this and many other instances, and allowing the European Commission to take a backseat to the European Council.^[19]

The EU rapporteur on Turkey Nacho Sánchez Amor drew attention to the fact that several politicians of the pro-Kurdish Peoples Democratic Party (HDP), following a crackdown by the Turkish government, have lost their mandate, stating "Let's not lose focus on what seats are at stake!".^[20]

In Turkey[]

Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu defended Turkey and alleged that the seating order was made according to the arrangements discussed with the European Union.^[21] The Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi also lamented the treatment of Von der Leyen stating: "With these dictators — let us call them what they are — one must be frank in expressing one’s diversity of views and visions of society"^[22][23] while also emphasizing the need of cooperation between Turkey and the European Union.^[22] To the "dictator" remark, Ankara responded with the summoning of the Italian ambassador to Turkey.^[21] According to Il Fatto Quotidiano Turkey has suspended the purchase of helicopters from the Italian company Leonardo.^[24] But also after Erdoğan condemned Draghi's "dictator" remark alleging that while Erdogan is elected Draghi is only appointed,^[25][26] Draghi refused to change his statement.^[27]

See also[]

• European Union–Turkey relations
• Gender equality
• Order of precedence in the European Union
• Protocol (diplomacy)

References[]

External links[]

• "Ros Atkins video on sofagate: Turkey and the story of three presidents and only two chairs". BBC News. 9 April 2021. Retrieved 10 April 2021.
• "Gender equality". European Commission. 15 September 2016. Retrieved 10 April 2021.
• "Diplomatic protocol – EURACTIV.com". euractiv.com. Retrieved 10 April 2021.
• "Protocol Service of the European Commission". ec.europa.eu. 10 April 2021. Retrieved 10 April 2021.