Italian Ambassador to Ankara Massimo Gayani has been summoned to the Turkish Foreign Ministry, Anadolu reports.
The reason is the statements of Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi addressed to President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, marked as ‘unacceptable’ by Turkey. The Italian Prime Minister criticized the Turkish President for disrespecting the President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen, calling him a ‘dictator’.
Later, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu responded to Draghi on Twitter. “We strongly condemn the unacceptable populist rhetoric of the Italian Prime Minister-designate Draghi, his ugly and ruthless statements about our president-elect,” he wrote.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen was seated on a sofa during a meeting with President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in Ankara on Tuesday, which does not correspond to her position according to the protocol.
