Pope Francis receives 'Ottoman gifts' in Turkey

ANKARA

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan personally presented an edict of Ottoman Sultan Mehmed II, to Pope Francis on Nov. 28 in Ankara. DHA photo

Turkish authorities presented two Ottoman-themed gifts to Pope Francis during the first day of the pontiff's historic visit to Turkey.

President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan personally presented his first gift, an edict of Ottoman Sultan Mehmed II, to Pope Francis on Nov. 28 in Ankara. Erdoğan explained that the edict was issued by the Ottoman state to protect the religious rights of the Christian clerics in Bosnia in the 15th century.

His second gift was a two-volume Turkish-German dictionary for Islamic and Christian terms, published by Ankara University. Pope Francis, an Argentinian, speaks fluent Italian, as well as Spanish and German.

In return, Pope Francis gave Erdoğan a mosaic work showing the River Tiber from the St. Angelo Castle in Italy, according to Doğan News Agency.

Mehmet Görmez, the head of Turkey's Religious Affairs Directorate (Diyanet), on the other hand, gave Pope Francis copies of the letters written by Pope Pius X to Ottoman Sultan Abdülhamid II in the early 20th century.