Authors
A video on social media is being shared with the claim that Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan ignored French President Emmanuel Macron in front of world leaders in 2020.
Shared multiple times on Twitter and Facebook, the video shows President Erdogan refusing to shake hands and sit with President Macron. It further shows Erdogan leaving his seat and shaking hands with German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Russian President Vladimir Putin, while Macron is left behind at the table.
One such claim shared on 3 December reads, “विश्व नेताओं के सामने एर्दोगान ने किया फ्रांस राष्ट्रपति मैक्रॉन को नज़रअंदाज़, हाथ मिलाने से भी किया इनकार #Turkey”
Translated from Hindi to English the claim reads, “In front of world leaders, Erdogan ignores France President Macron, refuses to join hands #Turkey”
You can see more examples of this claim here.
Fact Check/ Verification
A keyword search on Google found this AlJazeera article which includes a photograph of the two Presidents attending a news conference after a Syria summit in Istanbul in 2018.
Taking cue from this, a keyword search of the image credit led us to multiple articles and videos of the leaders at a news conference after a Syria summit in Istanbul, Turkey in October, 2018.
Among these was a link to a Reuters article which includes multiple images of the four leaders. In one image, Erdogan and Macron can be seen sitting next to each other.
The article reads, “The leaders of the four countries gathered for a summit in Istanbul to discuss Syria, where violence this week in the last remaining major rebel stronghold has highlighted the fragility of a deal to avert a massive government offensive.”
Next, the video uploaded on 27 October, 2018 on Ruptly, a Russian-state backed news agency’s Youtube channel is a longer version showing Erdogan sitting next to Macron during the Summit on Syria.
The 2018 video’s description reads, “Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Russian President Vladimir Putin, French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Angela Merkel give a joint press statement after a summit to discuss the ongoing situation in Syria, in Istanbul on Saturday, October 27.”
Keyframes from the misleading clip can be seen at the two-hour fifteen-minute timestamp of the Ruptly’s video.
Earlier in the Ruptly video, Macron can be seen sitting next to Erdogan during the conference.
This misleading claim along with the video began circulating online after Erdogan urged Turks to boycott French products amid Islamic row in many Muslim countries. This comes after the French President made comments about Islam following the murder of a French schoolteacher who showed cartoons of the Prophet in class.
Conclusion
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan did not ignore French President Emmanuel Macron in front of world leaders. The viral clip has been cut and taken from a longer video at a news conference after the Syria Summit in 2018 to mislead viewers.
Result: Misleading
Our Sources
Reuters: https://www.reuters.com/article/instant-article/idAFKCN1N10HI
Ruptly: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=emLu8gpV-fE
BBC: https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-54692485
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