Unusual and rather uncomfortable for Analena Bourbock was her reception by Syria’s de facto leader Ahmad al-Sara, in Damascus.

Al-Sara, who was known as Abu Mohammed al-Jolani, received the German foreign minister and her French counterpart Jean-Noel Barrot, in the first visit by European officials to Syria since the fall of Bashar al-Assad’s regime.

al-Sara greeted Barro, however, he did not do the same with Analena Burbok, whom he greeted with a nod, as he does not shake hands with women on principle, a reminder of the need for the new regime to secure and protect the rights of women and minorities.

Aware of the issue, the German minister seems to have been aware of the issue, and she did not seem to be taken by surprise as she kept her hands tied. Therefore, any diplomatic incident between Syria- Germany was avoided and the visit continued as normal.

However, the overall reception of the two ministers is considered friendly by al-Sarra’s standards, foreign media outlets underline.

There was no handshake when Analena Berbok was welcomed by officials of the de facto government from Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, who put one hand on the spot of the heart.

The parallel with Sofa Gate

Many people, however, remembered the well-remembered Sofa Gate during the visit of Ursula von der Leyen and former European Council President Charles Michel to Turkey.

During their visit to Recep Tayyip Erdogan, there were three seats, two chairs and a sofa. Then, Charles Michel sat in one of the two chairs and Ursula von der Leyen was stunned and stood up for a moment. Eventually, she was reduced to sitting on a couch, well away from the two men, leading to a reaction at the European Union level, as it was deemed an insult to the Commission president and to women in leadership positions.

And while some spoke of a diplomatic failure, others argued that there was a deliberate demotion of von der Leyen’s position, who was not treated equally.

Charles Michel later expressed regret over the incident and said he did not react to avoid an incident. Turkey, however, maintained that the seats were placed according to the protocol given to it.