Massacre taking place in Gaza, Erdogan tells Pope Francis

(ANSA) - ROME, OCT 26 - Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan told Pope Francis in a phone call that "Israeli attacks against Gaza have reached the level of a massacre", the Turkish presidential office in Ankara said on Thursday.
    During the conversation, the office added that Erdogan also criticised the lack of indignation on the part of the international community regarding the attacks against the Gaza Strip in retaliation for the October 7 surprise Hamas terrorist attack against Israel.
    Erdogan also reportedly appealed for support for Turkey's efforts to send humanitarian aid to Palestinians in Gaza and said that "lasting peace in the region, which is home to the holy sites of the three monotheistic religions, will only be possible with the creation of an independent, sovereign and geographically integrated State of Palestine within the 1967 borders, with East Jerusalem as its capital".
    On Wednesday Erdogan accused Israel of committing "premeditated act of crime against humanity" by allegedly attacking civilians in Gaza and said Hamas is not a terror organization but "an organization of liberation, of mujahedeen, who fight to protect their land and citizens".
    In Italy, Deputy Premier and Transport Matteo Salvini described his comments as disgusting" and said he would ask Deputy Premier and Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani to summon the Turkish ambassador and lodge a formal protest. (ANSA).