ISTANBUL: Turkey and the EU blamed each other on Thursday for seating arrangements that left European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen without a chair during a meeting with President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
The Turkish leader came under a torrent of criticism after images went viral of his Tuesday meeting with von der Leyen and European Council president Charles Michel in Ankara.
Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi even suggested that the episode showed that Erdogan was a "dictator".
The room where the three leaders were hosted had only two chairs arranged next to the corresponding EU and Turkish flags.
Erdogan and Michel quickly seated themselves while von der Leyen - whose diplomatic rank is the same as that of the two men - was left standing.
"Ehm," she said, spreading her arms in wonder and looking directly at Michel and Erdogan.
Official images later showed her seated on a sofa opposite Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu.
"The seating arrangements were made in line with the EU suggestion. Period," he said in the first public statement by a Turkish official on the episode.
"We would not be revealing this fact had accusations not been made against Turkey," Cavusoglu told reporters.
But Michel's European Council said its protocol team had been denied advance access to the meeting room where the three leaders first sat down for talks.
"If the room for the tete-a-tete had been visited, we would have suggested to our hosts that, as a courtesy, they replace the sofa with two armchairs for the President of the Commission," the protocol team said in a letter.
The diplomatic faux pas was instantly branded "sofagate" on Twitter and became the dominant talking point of the first Turkey-EU summit in a year.
The three leaders had been trying to set a more positive tone to relations after months of spats.
But the talks ended with European officials throwing accusations of male chauvinism at Turkey that they linked to Erdogan's withdrawal a month earlier from the Istanbul Convention against gender-based violence.
Draghi threatened to escalate the dispute to a another level by accusing Erdogan - who already has a running feud with French President Emmanuel Macron - of being a tyrant.
"I am very sorry for the humiliation that the president of the Commission had to suffer with these, let's call them for what they are, dictators, but with whom we need to cooperate," Draghi told reporters.
The Turkish government issued no immediate comment.
Yet many also questioned why Michel was so quick to take a seat.
The European Council president broke nearly a full day of silence by acknowledging on Facebook that the episode made him look "oblivious" to von der Leyen's discomfort.
But he blamed a "protocol blunder" by Turkey that he and von der Leyen decided to overlook at the time.
The episode came with the European Union's leadership under mounting pressure over the bloc's slow coronavirus inoculation effort and strains emerging between the 27 member states.
Several European Parliament groups demanded an investigation into how von der Leyen was left standing while Michel took a seat.
"The setting for this meeting does not seem to be based on order of precedence... but rather by a male-chauvinist way of representation of an autocrat," Belgian European Parliament member Assita Kanko wrote in a formal question to Michel.
The conservative EPP grouping's leader Manfred Weber told Politico the trip to Ankara had become "a symbol of disunity" between the EU's top officials.
And French far-right leader Marine Le Pen called the entire visit a bad idea because it showed the bloc "lying down before a hostile" Erdogan.
Von der Leyen's spokesman meanwhile refused to be drawn on speculation that none of this would have happened had the European Commission followed the European Council's example and sent a protocol team to Ankara.
"President (von der Leyen) simply wishes that these questions be analysed so that we do not face the same types of questions on our next mission," Eric Memer told reporters.
Turkey and EU blame each other in ‘sofagate’ scandal
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Turkey and EU blame each other in ‘sofagate’ scandal
- The Turkish leader came under a torrent of criticism after images went viral of his Tuesday meeting
- The diplomatic faux pas was instantly branded "sofagate" on Twitter
Turkiye bans May Day protest in Istanbul’s main square
- Authorities later opened up the square for celebrations in 2010, but it was shut down again after it played host to anti-government protests in 2013 targeting Erdogan
ISTANBUL: Turkish police on Tuesday sealed off Istanbul’s central Taksim Square to prevent any May Day protests as President Recep Tayyip Erdogan warned unions to stay away from any provocative steps.
High metal barriers were erected around the square, AFP journalists reported.
The stepped-up security measures came a day after Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya said authorities had designated 40 areas for May Day celebrations with the exception of the emblematic Taksim Square.
Yerlikaya said some unions had demanded to use the square, the epicenter of 2013 protests against the government of then prime minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, now president, but that it would not be allowed.
“Taksim Square and its surrounding vicinity is not convenient for any rally,” he said.
Istanbul’s governor’s office has announced some roads will be closed to traffic while restrictions will be imposed on public transport as part of security measures.
Turkiye’s main opposition CHP party, which won a victory in the March 31 local elections while retaining control of several main cities including Istanbul, however pressed the government to open the square for labor rallies.
CHP leader Ozgur Ozel on Monday called on the interior minister to reconsider the ban on Taksim, which has been used in the past.
“Sealing off Taksim amounts to not recognizing the constitution,” he said.
In an address on Tuesday, Erdogan said insisting on staging a rally at unauthorized areas was “not well-intentioned.”
He said the opposition and some “marginal groups” sought to overshadow May Day spirit with their calls to rally at Taksim Square.
“I invite our unions and political parties to stay away from steps that would harm the May Day atmosphere,” he said.
Taksim Square was a rallying ground for May Day celebrations until 1977, when at least 34 people were killed during demonstrations.
Authorities later opened up the square for celebrations in 2010, but it was shut down again after it played host to anti-government protests in 2013 targeting Erdogan.
In 2023, Turkiye’s top constitutional court ruled that Taksim Square’s closure to protests constituted a violation of rights.
The Amnesty International rights group also said the ban “is based on entirely spurious security and public order grounds” and called for it to be lifted.
Calling the square “a place of huge symbolic significance,” Amnesty added that: “For more than a decade, the Turkish authorities have unlawfully restricted people’s right to assembly and criminalized peaceful protests that take place in the square.”
More than 42,000 police will be on duty in the city for May 1.
UN Palestinian agency chief seeks probe into treatment of Gaza staff by Israel
- Lazzarini said Israel blocked him from entering Gaza last month, and that he plans to visit again on Sunday. He voiced hope that Israel would let him in
- Israel has killed more than 34,000 Palestinians in Gaza, mostly women and children, according to the health ministry in the Hamas-run territory
GENEVA: The head of the UN agency for Palestinian refugees, UNRWA, called on Tuesday for countries to back an independent investigation into alleged killings and detentions of its staff and damage to its premises once the Israel-Hamas conflict ends.
UNRWA has accused Israel of targeting its facilities during more than seven months of conflict in the Gaza Strip, and said 182 of its staff there had been killed and more than 160 of its shelters hit, resulting in the deaths of hundreds of people fleeing Israeli bombardment.
After briefing UN member states in Geneva, UNRWA Commissioner-General Philippe Lazzarini told reporters he wanted the countries to back an independent investigation “to look into this blatant disregard of the United Nations in order to avoid that this becomes also in the future the new standard.”
Israel’s diplomatic mission in Geneva reacted by accusing UNRWA of complicity with Hamas, saying the militant group was embedded within the UN agency’s infrastructure.
Lazzarini said Israel blocked him from entering Gaza last month, and that he plans to visit again on Sunday. He voiced hope that Israel would let him in. UNRWA is the biggest humanitarian aid provider in Gaza where its 13,000 staff there also run schools and social services for the refugees who make up the majority of Gazans.
Israel accuses 19 of its staff members of taking part in the Oct. 7 Hamas attacks against Israel that killed 1,200 people and triggered Israel’s military offensive.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has called for UNRWA to be shut down, saying it seeks to preserve the issue of Palestinian refugees. A review of the agency’s neutrality said Israel had yet to provide evidence for its accusations that a significant number of UNRWA staff were members of terrorist groups and Lazzarini said that all but a handful of countries had now unblocked funds they had paused after the Israeli allegations.
He listed those still withholding funds as the US, Britain, Austria and his native Switzerland.
The Swiss lower house’s foreign affairs committee on Tuesday narrowly voted to partly unblock financial aid to UNRWA solely for humanitarian ends, a step that needs further parliamentary approval.
Some $267 million in total remains blocked, Lazzarini said, based on a tally of countries’ prior commitments. The agency has raised $115 million in private funding, he added.
Another UN investigation into the allegations against UNRWA staff members is still under way.
Food and other humanitarian aid supplies to Gaza have improved in April, but there is still far from enough to reverse the trend toward famine, he said.
“We are engaged in a race against the clock to reverse the spreading of hunger and the looming famine especially in the northern part,” he said.
Gas blast kills eight at Beirut restaurant: minister
- The firefighters put out a blaze in a small restaurant in Beirut after “a gas leak caused an explosion at the restaurant”
BEIRUT: A fire caused by a gas canister explosion killed at least eight people at a restaurant in Beirut on Tuesday, a Lebanese government minister and firefighters said.
The state-run National News Agency quoted the Beirut Fire Brigade as saying that “eight victims died of suffocation inside the restaurant.”
The firefighters put out a blaze in a small restaurant in Beirut after “a gas leak caused an explosion at the restaurant,” NNA added, quoted the same source.
Interior Minister Bassam Mawlawi toured the site, also telling reporters at least eight people had been killed “by suffocation” in the blast.
Some lawmakers representing Beirut also visited, with parliament member Ibrahim Mneimneh questioning safety standards at the restaurant.
The accident “shows this place was not in line with public safety standards,” he said.
Lebanon’s economy has been in free-fall since late 2019, worsening a long-running public oversight problem in different sectors, especially with regard to public safety.
Kuwait launches anti-smoking campaign to safeguard children
- WHO reveal a threefold increase globally in e-cigarette usage among children aged 13-15 compared to adults
LONDON: The Kuwaiti Ministry of Health will launch an anti-smoking awareness campaign on Thursday aimed at safeguarding children from the dangers of tobacco, the Kuwait News Agency reported on Tuesday.
Collaborating with various ministries and state agencies, the campaign will underscore the critical need to protect vulnerable populations from the hazards of smoking.
Dr. Abeer Al-Baho, director of the ministry’s Health Promotion Department, said the awareness drive will be inclusive by reaching out to men, women, and children alike.
The campaign will highlight the detrimental effects of smoking, shed light on the legal ramifications for those found to be smoking in unauthorized areas, and particularly safeguard individuals with health vulnerabilities, minors, and the environment.
Al-Baho stressed the campaign’s pivotal role in curbing smoking-related diseases and fatalities, emphasizing the direct and indirect harm caused to the lungs and heart and the links with many types of cancer.
Scheduled to run until May 31, coinciding with World No Tobacco Day, the campaign will span all six Kuwaiti governorates, featuring demonstrations that show the hazards of smoking.
Disturbing statistics from the World Health Organization reveal a threefold increase globally in e-cigarette usage among children aged 13-15 compared to adults, prompting urgent warnings about the risks posed by tobacco in its various forms, including traditional smoking and e-cigarettes.
Blinken says he will press Netanyahu on Gaza aid measures during Israel trip
- Visit comes month after US President Biden issued stark warning to Israeli PM
- Blinken on a tour of Middle East, seventh since region plunged into conflict on Oct. 7
AMMAN: US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Tuesday he would discuss with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu measures that Israel still needs to take to increase the flow of aid into Gaza during his planned talks in the country on Wednesday.
Blinken arrived in Israel on Tuesday to also push for a much awaited ceasefire between Israeli forces and Hamas militants in Gaza.
Ahead of his arrival in Israel, Blinken spoke to reporters at a warehouse of the Jordan Hashemite Charity Organization where aid shipments from US-based charities are gathered.
While there are some improvements in the humanitarian aid situation in the densely populated enclave, he said, much more needs to be done to ensure assistance reaches people in a sustained manner.
“I’m now able to go to Israel tomorrow and go over with the Israeli government the things that still need to be done if the test is going to be met of making sure that people have what they need,” Blinken said.
“And I’ll be doing that (on Wednesday) directly with Prime Minister Netanyahu and other members of the Israeli government,” he said.
Blinken’s check-in with Netanyahu on aid will take place about a month after US President Joe Biden issued a stark warning to Netanyahu, saying Washington’s policy could shift if Israel fails to take steps to address civilian harm, humanitarian suffering, and the safety of aid workers.
A spiraling humanitarian crisis has prompted calls from Israel’s Western and Arab partners to do more to facilitate the entry of aid to Gaza, where most people are homeless, many face famine, disease is widespread, and where much civilian infrastructure lies in ruins.
REGIONAL TOUR
Blinken is on a tour of the Middle East, his seventh since the region plunged into conflict on Oct. 7 when Palestinian Hamas militants attacked Israel, killing 1,200 people and abducting 253 others, according to Israeli tallies.
In response, Israel has launched a relentless assault on Gaza, killing more than 34,000 Palestinians, local health authorities say, in a bombardment that has reduced the enclave to a wasteland. More than one million people face famine, the United Nations has said, after six months of war.
The first shipments of aid directly from Jordan to northern Gaza’s newly opened Erez crossing will leave on Tuesday, goods are also arriving via the port of Ashdod, and a new maritime corridor will be ready in about a week, Blinken said.
“But more still needs to be done,” he said. “We still have to have a deconfliction mechanism that’s effective and works — that’s a work in progress,” Blinken added.
He said there should also be a clear list of items needed in Gaza to avoid “arbitrary denials” — a reference to a process of rigorous inspections of aid shipments that has seen some trucks stranded at border crossings.
