A diplomatic spat has erupted between Turkey and Italy, after prime minister Mario Draghi accused president Recep Tayyip Erdogan of humiliating European commission president Ursula von der Leyen, and described him as a “dictator,” The Guardian reported.
Italy PM calls Turkey’s Erdogan “dictator” with whom one has to coordinate
STEPANAKERT, APRIL 9, ARTSAKHPRESS: Von der Leyen—the commission’s first female president—was left without a chair during a meeting on Tuesday with Erdogan and the European council president Charles Michel met Erdogan. The commission chief was clearly taken aback when the two men sat on the only two chairs prepared, relegating her to an adjacent sofa.
On Thursday Draghi told reporters: “I absolutely do not agree with Erdogan’s behavior towards president Von der Leyen … I think it was not appropriate behavior and I was very sorry for the humiliation Von der Leyen had to suffer.”
He added: “With these, let’s call them what they are—dictators—with whom one nonetheless has to coordinate, one has to be frank when expressing different visions and opinions.”
