Pope Francis has called for inter-faith dialogue to help end fundamentalism and terrorism during his first visit to Turkey.
He said fighting hunger and poverty, rather than military intervention alone, were also key to stopping Islamist militants carrying out “grave persecutions” in Syria and Iraq.
Speaking at the start of a three-day trip to Turkey, Pope Francis said “terrorist violence” showed no sign of abating in Turkey’s southern neighbours, where Islamist insurgents had declared a caliphate and persecuted Shiite Muslims, Christians and others who do not share their ultra-radical brand of Sunni Islam.
“It is licit, while always respecting international law, to stop an unjust aggressor,” the leader of the world’s 1.2 billion Roman Catholics said in reference to the Islamic State militants after a meeting with Turkish president Tayyip Erdogan.
“What is required is a concerted commitment on the part of all … [to] enable resources to be directed, not to weaponry, but to the other noble battles worthy of man: the fight against hunger and sickness.”
Before the meeting with Mr Erdogan, Pope Francis visited the tomb of Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, who founded the modern secular Turkish state in 1923.
Pope Francis faces a delicate mission in Turkey, a majority Muslim but constitutionally secular state, in strengthening ties with religious leaders while condemning violence against Christians and other minorities in the Middle East.
He called for interreligious dialogue “so that there will be an end of all forms of fundamentalism and terrorism which gravely demean the dignity of every man and woman and exploit religion.”
Pope Francis said that it is essential that all citizens – Muslim, Jewish and Christian – both in the provision and practice of the law, enjoy the same rights and respect the same duties.
