European women's associations have written to the president of the European Council, Charles Michel, asking him to step down following "Sofagate," the label given to an incident on Tuesday in which European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen was subjected to a protocol snub in Ankara.

A petition launched by the associations obtained over 2,500 signatures in less than two days in Belgium, France, Italy and even outside the European Union.

The petition was started by the Millenia Foundation, an international public utility foundation for women's empowerment and equality, following Tuesday's incident, in which Michel and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan sat in the only two armchairs provided when the Turkish leader received his EU visitors, leaving the Commission President standing.