The President of Turkey, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, has congratulated the new Pope Leo XIV elected yesterday by the Conclave gathered in the Sistine Chapel in the Vatican, to whom he sent a letter expressing his desire to join forces to fight against the human tragedies plaguing the world and especially to stop the war in Gaza.
In the letter, sent on Friday and reported by numerous Turkish media outlets, Erdoğan addressed the former US Cardinal Robert Francis Prevost Martínez, born in 1955 in Chicago (USA) but who has lived for more than 30 years in Peru, congratulating him on his appointment as Pope on behalf of all the people of Turkey.
In the letter, the Turkish president refers to the late Pope Francis as ‘a valuable statesman who won the affection of the whole world for his efforts to establish peace and tolerance at a time when regional and international conflicts have intensified,’ according to the Turkish Presidency’s Communications Office. ‘I have full faith that we will continue the sincere and constructive dialogue we established with Pope Francis,’ Erdoğan emphasised.
‘I sincerely believe that deepening relations between Turkey and the Vatican will contribute significantly to strengthening tolerance on the international arena and putting an end to humanitarian tragedies, especially in Gaza,‘ said the Turkish leader, insisting to the new Pope on his desire to ‘join forces to end humanitarian tragedies’ in the world.
Francis’ commitment to the Palestinians
Leo XIV’s predecessor on the throne of St. Peter, Pope Francis, advocated until his last days for an end to the war in Gaza and openly criticised the massacre of Palestinian civilians by the Israeli army. In his support for Gaza, Francis spoke daily by telephone with the only Catholic church in the Strip, and before his death he ordered that the Popemobile he used during a visit to the Holy Land in 2014 be donated to the besieged Palestinian enclave to be converted into a mobile clinic to treat children.
The day before his death, in his message to the faithful on Easter Sunday, Francis again called for a ceasefire in Gaza and the release of all Israeli hostages. In addition, under Pope Francis’ mandate, the Vatican officially recognised the Palestinian state.
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Edited and reviewed by:
Pablo Gómez is a specialist in Turkey and has been editor-in-chief of Hispanatolia since 2011. He has been analysing current affairs and geopolitics in Turkey and the surrounding region since 2006.
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