An unexpected development occurred during a press conference on Tuesday involving Turkey’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, Hakan Fidan, and his Syrian counterpart.

As shown in the footage, while Hakan Fidan was answering a question about a meeting held in Miami concerning the situation in Gaza and Turkey’s role in the region’s post-conflict period, it was announced that the statements had concluded.

The Turkish foreign minister appeared visibly uncomfortable and continued speaking for a few seconds, even though his microphone had been turned off.

After the footage circulated widely in Turkey, the spokesperson for the Turkish Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Öncü Keçeli, issued a statement explaining that during Fidan’s remarks, the translation was not being broadcast through the loudspeakers. “Because of this issue, the Syrian official organizing the event believed that the Turkish foreign minister had finished his statement and therefore announced the end of the press conference.”

It was reported today that the Syrian government apologized to Turkey for the technical problem that caused the interruption of Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan during the press conference in Damascus.