News Center- European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and EU Council President Charles Michel visited Turkey on April 7. During the meeting with Turkey’s President Erdoğan, Charles Michel took the only chair next to Erdoğan while Ursula von der Leyen was left without a chair, and at the end, she had to sit on a sofa. This crisis is known as "sofagate gaffe" all around the world. The sofagate crisis sparked criticisms. Leyen made a speech and described what had happened as “sexism”.

Leyen said she had to conclude, it happened because she was a woman, “I am the first woman to be President of the European Commission. I am the President of the European Commission. And this is how I expected to be treated when visiting Turkey two weeks ago, like a Commission President, but I was not. I cannot find any justification for the way I was treated in the European Treaties. So, I have to conclude, it happened because I am a woman. Would this have happened if I had worn a suit and a tie? In the pictures of previous meetings, I did not see any shortage of chairs. But then again, I did not see any woman in these pictures, either,” Leyen told EU lawmakers.