Ankara chairs and the business of 'protocol machismo'

Screen grab of European Commission president von der Leyen looking on as European Council president Michel and Turkey’s president Erdogan seat themselves

Heard the one about European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen and European Council president Charles Michel’s visit with Turkey’s president Recep Tayyip Erdogan in Ankara?

The men got the best seats.

Mr Erdogan and Mr Michel took chairs side by side with the Turkish and EU flags behind them. As for Ms von der Leyen, she was left to sit on a sofa well away. Opposite her sat Turkey’s foreign minister, who is definitely not on a par with the president of the European Commission.

You can see for yourself what happened, just click here . It’s eye-opening to witness something that Politico’s Florian Elder has called protocol machismo.

The sexist snub to Ms von der Leyen has nothing to do with her as a person or as a professional, of course. It’s just that she’s a woman, the European Commission’s first female president.

The Ankara displa…