A diplomatic “war” has broken out between Rome and Ankara since the statements of the Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi and his comments about the “dictator” Erdogan.
The Turkish Foreign Ministry issued a statement on Friday, in which Ankara is annoyed by what Draghi said. «The Italian ambassador in Ankara was immediately summoned to our ministry on the night of April 8 for the unacceptable statements of the Italian Prime Minister about our President, on the same day.
Deputy Minister and EU Commissioner Farouk Kaimaktzi stressed to the ambassador that We strongly condemn the statements made by the Italian Prime Minister-designate aimed at our President Erdogan, a leader who received the highest number of popular votes in Europe, and what we expect to withdraw unfair and malicious statements, which are in conflict with the friendship and alliance of Turkey – Italy.
It was also stated to the ambassador that the statements regarding the arrangement of the seats for Wednesday’s meeting made without knowing the etiquette are unacceptable. No one can question the hospitality of Turkey
“Turkey will not engage in pointless and ill-intentioned confrontations within the EU and considers that efforts to sabotage the positive agenda between Turkey and the EU are futile,” the foreign ministry said in a statement.
Reactions in Ankara to what Daggi said were strong, with ruling AK Party Vice President Numan Kurtulmus tweeting: “We condemn Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi for his unfortunate remarks about our president. .
Mr Draghi, we are not dictators! “If you want to see a dictator, look at your history, look at Mussolini.”
Dragi’s outraged statements
After the blunder in the meeting of the heads of the two European institutions, Ursula von der Leyen and Charles Michel, with Erdogan, with the former standing up as no seat has been provided for her, the Mario Draghi expressed his opposition to the behavior of the President of Turkey, raising his voice and even characterizing him as a dictator.
“We do not share Erdogan’s attitude, it was not the right behavior. I am very sorry that the EU President has suffered. “With these dictators, let’s call them that, we have to be clear: To express our different views but to be able to work together for the benefit of our countries,” said the Italian prime minister.
Turkey blames the EU
Earlier, Turkey called the charges against it unfair. Ankara blames the embarrassing – and offensive – moment on the EU, arguing that the seating arrangement was proposed by the European side.
“EU demands have been met. This means that the arrangement of the seats was done at her own request. “Our protocol services met before the summit and their (EU) demands were respected,” Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoλουlu told a news conference. “The accusations against Turkey are unfair.”
He added that Turkey felt compelled to make this clarification about “the accusations it is targeting”.
The president of the European Commission was shocked when the head of the European Council Charles Michel sat on Tuesday in the only seat available next to Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan in the presidential palace.
A video of the episode shows the first female head of the EU executive and the only woman in the conversation standing for a moment, looking at two already seated men, before she too sits on a couch near the main seats.
The video was widely circulated on social media and provoked reactions against Ankara over the protocol, as well as against Michelle for not defending his fellow president.
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