Russian FM Sergey Lavrov has not professed his love for Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, regardless of what Turkish media reported, the foreign ministry has stressed, and yes, we have the actual footage of the conversation.
The talks in Moscow between President Vladimir Putin and his Turkish counterpart focused on the very hot topic of Syria’s Idlib, but some claimed things got steamy in another, unexpected way. That’s at least according to some Turkish media outlets that rolled out the, frankly, bizarre story in the aftermath.
Journalists at Yol TV apparently misheard Lavrov’s remark made after Thursday’s joint Putin-Erdogan press conference, interpreting it as “I love you, Tayyip” – something that then inspired an entire piece on the incident, and further reposts.
Lavrov, leaning towards Erdogan’s ear, said “I love you, Tayyip.”
On Friday, Russia’s Foreign Ministry decided to chime in and dot all the ‘i’s, pointing to the anticlimactic truth: what Lavrov said was a throwaway phrase commending the Turkish leader’s… tie. The ministry even enclosed a screenshot from the Yol TV broadcast with the unlikely subtitle, noting that “in the video one can clearly hear that the Minister says ‘I love your tie.’”
We noticed that the Turkish media @YolTV wrongly understood words of Russian Foreign Minister S.Lavrov. In the video one can clearly hear that the Minister says «I love your tie» pic.twitter.com/VUsVoMwSVE
While it would probably remain a diplomatic secret how friendly the ties between top Russian and Turkish officials really are, here is the actual footage of the conversation, which should help decide if it’s time for some reporters to get their ears checked.
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