Turkey invites pope to Expo pavilion

 Turkey's Deputy Economy Minister Adnan Yildirim said Monday that Pope Francis will be welcome to visit his country's pavilion at Milan Expo 2015, which runs for six months and kicks off Friday. The pope's recent comments in which he described the mass killing of Armenians under Ottaman rule during World War I as genocide infuriated Turkey, with Ankara calling back its ambassador to the Holy See for consultations.

"We would be pleased to welcome the Holy Father if he wanted to visit Turkey's Expo pavilion," Yildirim said at the sidelines of the presentation of Turkey's pavilion. "If he were not able to, then we would be pleased to host a Vatican delegation to enable them to appreciate the values of Turkey's historic civilization".

Source: ANSA.it