The president of Turkey, Tayyip Erdogan, condemned the Pope's recognition of the Armenian genocide at Sunday mass, warning Pope Francis to not repeat this mistake.
"We will not allow historical incidents to be taken out of their genuine context and be used as a tool to campaign against our country," Mr Erdogan was quoted by Reuters as saying in a speech on Tuesday.
"I condemn the pope and would like to warn him not to make similar mistakes again," he added.
At a mass conducted in the Armenian Catholic service at Peter's Basilica, the pope said humanity had lived through "three massive and unprecedented tragedies" in the last century.
"The first, which is widely considered 'the first genocide of the 20th Century', struck your own Armenian people," he said.
"Concealing or denying evil is like allowing a wound to keep bleeding without bandaging it," the pope added.
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"We will not allow historical incidents to be taken out of their genuine context and be used as a tool to campaign against our country," Mr Erdogan was quoted by Reuters as saying in a speech on Tuesday.
"I condemn the pope and would like to warn him not to make similar mistakes again," he added.
At a mass conducted in the Armenian Catholic service at Peter's Basilica, the pope said humanity had lived through "three massive and unprecedented tragedies" in the last century.
"The first, which is widely considered 'the first genocide of the 20th Century', struck your own Armenian people," he said.
"Concealing or denying evil is like allowing a wound to keep bleeding without bandaging it," the pope added.
Related articles:
Turkey outrage at Pope Francis' use of genocide word on Armenia (12 Apr 2015)
15 US senators call on Obama to recognise Armenian genocide (04 Apr 2015)
Pope set to commemorate Armenian genocide (30 Mar 2015)
US calls for 'full, frank and just acknowledgement' of massacres of Armenians (10 Feb 2015)