Cavendish, who enjoyed a successful race winning three stages, tried to make a premature exit after first waiting for Erdogan to turn up for the prizegiving ceremony and then sit through a long speech by the president.
However, the 29-year-old Isle of Man-born rider found his exit route blocked by the bodyguards and he was obliged to return and be handed his prize from Erdogan in front of the TV cameras.
The race itself was won by Croat Kristijan Durasek with the eighth and final stage, a 124 kilometres ride round Istanbul, falling to Spain's Lluis Bonet Mas, who edged out Cavendish.