President Recep Tayyip Erdogan of Turkey met today (February 5, 2018) with Pope Francis to discuss the status of Jerusalem, human rights, and refugees while Kurdish and Italian protesters clashed with police a short distance from Vatican City, according to the AP website.
Police in riot gear blocked the protesters -- estimated by officers to number 150 -- near Rome's Tiber River as they tried to get closer to the Vatican. Police said one protester was detained.
Said Durson, one of the protesters, said, "I am surprised the pope is willing to meet with a person like that, a dictator, an assassin, with blood on his hands." (Turkey last month launched a military offensive on Kurds in Syria that it is still carrying out.)
Both Francis and Erdogan are opposed to U.S. President Donald Trump's recent decision to recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel.
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