Italian Foreign Affairs Minister Paolo Gentiloni has criticized Anakra's response to the statement made by Pope Francis.
According to the minister, nothing can justify Turkish authorities' harsh statements and response directed to Pope Francis' prayer dedicated to the Armenian victims of massacres in Ottoman Empire.
"I believe Turkish authorities' harsh tone to be unjustified especially taking into account that 15 years ago Pope John Paul II defined the Armenian massacres as a genocide", TASS quotes the Italian minister's words.
To note, on April 12 during a Mass in St. Peter's Basilica Pope Francis said that the annihilation of 1.5, mln Armenians in Ottoman Empire was the first Genocide of the XX century. He called Genocide one of the three massive and unprecedented tragedies of the XX century along with Nazism and Stalinism. The Vatican's ambassador to Ankara was summoned to the MFA for explanations, while the Turkish Ambassador to Vatican was summoned for consultations.