Turkey’s leader in historic visit with pope amid tight security
Vatican City — Tayyip Erdogan made the first visit by a Turkish president to see the pope in the Vatican in 59 years on Monday as Rome was put under heavy security for fear of violent demonstrations. Erdogan said before he left Turkey that he would discuss the Middle East situation and Jerusalem in particular. Erdogan and Pope Francis are opposed to US President Donald Trump’s decision to recognise Jerusalem as the capital of Israel, which many US allies say could doom Middle East peace efforts. Erdogan, returning a visit made by the pope to Turkey in 2014, spoke privately with Pope Francis for about 50 minutes in the pontiff’s frescoed study in the Vatican’s Apostolic Palace, which he uses mostly for ceremonial purposes. At the end of the private part of the meeting, the pope gave Erdogan a bronze medallion showing an angel embracing the northern and southern hemispheres while overcoming the opposition of a dragon. "This is the angel of peace who strangles the demon of war," the po...
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