Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan met with Pope Francis on Monday at a private audience in Vatican. Following Pope Francis’s visit to Turkey, it was the first visit of a Turkish president to the Vatican in nearly 60 years.
The Pope and the Turkish leader had a 50-minute meeting in the Vatican’s Apostolic Palace, during which they discussed the situation in Syria, refugees in the Middle East, as well as the fight against terrorism and Islamophobia.
The only issue the Pope and the Turkish president fully agreed on was the status of Jerusalem, with both of them opposing Trump’s decision to recognize Jerusalem as the Israeli capital.
Aside from the issue of Jerusalem, the Pope and the president diverge on several issues, including the Armenian Genocide.
To remind, on 12 April 2015 Pope Francis offered a Divine Liturgy dedicated to the 100th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide, noting in his speech the tragedy that struck the Armenian people was the “first genocide of the 20th century”, thus becoming the first Pope to use the word “genocide”. In response, Turkey withdrew its ambassador to the Holy See for nearly 10 months.
The gifts the Pope and the Turkish leader exchanged were quite interesting and symbolic. Erdogan presented the Pope a 24-piece miniature İznik pottery, which had been made with a ceramics technique popular at the time of Ottoman Sultan Süleyman the Magnificent. He also gave him a volume of poems by the medieval poet Rumi translated into Italian and English.
To note, Sultan Suleyman was one of the most famous and powerful sultans of the Ottoman Empire. He reigned in the 16th century, making his way into the history with numerous military achievements. He was close to conquer Vienna in 1529 – an event which would change the course of Europe’s history. Among the others, Suleyman conquered the Christian strongholds of Belgrade, Rhodes, as well as most of Hungary and planned a detailed attack on Rome.
Against the backdrop of this bellicose mood, the Pope gifted Erdogan a bronze medallion showing an angel embracing the world while battling a dragon. "This is the angel of peace who strangles the demon of war," he told the president.
This came as a strong hint to the Turkish leader, whose forces are carrying out military operations against the Kurds in the northern Afrin region of Syria and have been accused of grave human rights abuses.
Well, these pretty symbolic gifts reveal the true intentions and work-styles of their authors. We only can hope that after his meeting with Pope Francis, President Erdogan will reassess his activities and if he wants to contribute to settling the regional issues, as Saint Peter said, “let him turn away from evil and do good; let him seek peace and pursue it” (Peter 3:11).