ANKARA - Italy's relationship with Turkey took a turn for the worse last night - with the Turkish government summoning the Italian ambassador in Ankara - after Mario Draghi called Turkish President Erdogan a "dictator" in a press conference.

  He said, "a consideration to be had is that these dictators, with whom however we need to collaborate, or better cooperate, one has to be frank in expressing a difference of views, of behaviour, of vision, but ready to cooperate in the interests of the country."

  The Turkish government summoned Italian diplomat Massimo Gaiani, with the Minister for Foreign Affairs, Mevlut Cavusoglu, saying "we condemn with force these affermations made without any control by the Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi about our President, words that show an unacceptable populist rhetoric." 

  His statement continued that they emphasised to the ambassador that “we expect that these ugly and brash statements that do not conform to the spirit of friendship and alliance between Italy and Turkey will be immediately retracted.”

  During the press conference in which Draghi made the controversial comments, he also commented on ‘sofa-gate’ - in which the President of the European Commission, Ursula Von Der Leyen, was made to sit on a sofa apart from the two seats of honour reserved for Erdogan and Charles Michel, the President of the European Council, during a meeting with the Turkish President in Ankara.

  Draghi said, “I absolutely do not agree with Erdoğan’s behaviour towards president Von der Leyen … I think it was not appropriate behaviour and I was very sorry for the humiliation Von der Leyen had to suffer.”

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