I think one also needs to bear in mind that persons staffing third party lounges in places like Izmir are not going to have the same level of knowledge of, say, BA staff at T5 GF. So whilst I might be tempted to bristle at the lack of immediate recognition of my Gold status, the reality is that "Club Eaurope" and "Gold" probably mean very little to them (certainly the former) and, as indicated above, all they care about is not getting sacked and that means making sure the right people are allowed in and the wrong ones are not!

It can even happen in EU countries. I was once refused entry to the Fast Track in Schiphol becase I was not "Business".