ANKARA (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 09th April, 2021) Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu on Thursday slammed Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi's remarks regarding President Recep Tayyip Erdogan as "unacceptable populist rhetoric."
Earlier in the day, Draghi called the Turkish leader a dictator in light of his "inappropriate behavior" during a recent meeting with top EU officials, during which European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen was left without a chair. At the same time, Draghi pointed to the need to cooperate with Erdogan.
"We strongly condemn the unacceptable populist rhetoric of Italian prime minister Draghi and his outrageous and rude statements about our president, who took office as a result of the elections, and bring them back," Cavusoglu wrote on Twitter.
A source in the Turkish foreign ministry also said that Italy's ambassador in Ankara was summoned to the ministry over the situation.
