Turkish foreign minister says Pope's 'genocide' comments 'incite hatred'

Pope Francis.
(Image credit: Franco Origlia/Getty Images)

On Sunday, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu criticized remarks made by Pope Francis, who said during a Mass attended by the Armenian president that the killing of an estimated 1.5 million Armenians under Ottoman rule 100 years ago was "the first genocide of the 20th century."

Armenia says that up to 1.5 million people were killed in 1915 by Ottoman forces, the BBC reports, while Turkey disputes the number and says the deaths were part of the civil conflict that started World War I. Cavusoglu tweeted: "The Pope's statement, which is far from the legal and historical reality, cannot be accepted. Religious authorities are not the places to incite resentment and hatred with baseless allegations."

Turkey's foreign ministry said it felt "great disappointment and sadness" over the comments, and recalled the country's ambassador from Rome.

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Catherine Garcia, The Week US

Catherine Garcia is night editor for TheWeek.com. Her writing and reporting has appeared in Entertainment Weekly and EW.com, The New York Times, The Book of Jezebel, and other publications. A Southern California native, Catherine is a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.