The head of the European Council Charles Michel regrets that the incident with the placement of chairs at the talks in Ankara overshadowed the most important visit for the European Union to Turkey.
On Tuesday, Michel and the head of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, were on a visit to Turkey, where they held talks with Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan.
The footage of this meeting published on the network shows that the organizers provided only two chairs for the negotiators against the background of the flags of the European Union and Turkey.
Chairs were taken by Erdogan and Michel, Von der Leyen had to sit on a sofa to one side, opposite Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu.
“Despite striving to do everything right, Turkish authorities’ strict interpretation of protocol rules has led to an unfortunate situation,” Michel wrote on Facebook.
He believes that a “protocol oversight” was made in relation to the head of the European Commission, which could look like a belittling of importance. However, according to him, it was decided not to aggravate the situation, but to continue political debates with the Turkish side.
