EU chief Ursula von der Leyen blames sexism for Turkey chair snub

The first female president of the European Commission has vowed to defend women's rights after admitting to feeling "hurt" by a chair snub during a summit with male leaders in Turkey.

Ursula von der Leyen was left without a chair at a meeting with President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan in Ankara on 6 April.

Turkey was criticised, as was EU Council President Charles Michel, who took the only chair next to Mr Erdoğan.

Turkey blamed the EU for the gaffe that saw Mrs von der Leyen sit on a sofa.

But in a speech to the European Parliament on Monday, Mrs von der Leyen suggested sexism was at the root of the seating blunder, known as "sofagate".

Mrs von der Leyen, 62, said she could see no reason why she should have been treated differently to Mr Michel, who has apologised for his role in the affair.

"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," Mrs von der Leyen told EU lawmakers.

"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."