- Clip appears to show Recep Tayyip Erdogan falling asleep during press briefing
- Turkish president could be seen yawning as Ukrainian counterpart was speaking
- The two leaders were holding talks in the Ukrainian capital Kiev on Monday
Footage has emerged appearing to show Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan falling asleep during a live news conference.
The 63-year-old could be seen yawning as his Ukrainian counterpart Petro Poroshenko spoke to reporters in Kiev.
Video appears to show him repeatedly nodding off while Poroshenko addressed questions from the media.
At one point the Ukrainian even taps the table to Erdogan’s left as the Turkish leader’s head drops down.
Footage has emerged appearing to show Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan falling asleep during a live news conference
The footage was spotted by a journalist working for the Kurdistan 24 channel before it was widely shared on social media.
During talks between the two leaders, Erdogan said Turkey will not recognise Russia’s annexation of Crimea.
Erdogan said during Monday’s visit to Kiev that Turkey will continue to support Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity.
Russia and Ukraine have been in a tug-of-war following Moscow’s annexation of Ukraine’s Crimean Peninsula and support for separatist rebels in eastern Ukraine.
Erdogan (file picture) said during Monday’s visit to Kiev that Turkey will continue to support Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity
Erdogan said that Ankara will continue to follow the situation of Crimean Tatars, and thanked Ukraine for defending their rights.
Some Crimean Tatar activists have complained of infringements on the rights of the Turkic ethnic group after Russia’s annexation of the Black Sea region.
Erdogan’s statement comes even though he has sought to maintain warm ties with Russia and cooperated with it on establishing de-escalation zones in Syria.