YEREVAN, FEBRUARY 5, ARMENPRESS. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on February 5 will meet with Pope Francis in Vatican, reports Armenpress.

The meeting with take place in the Vatican library.

Toughened security measures were taken over Erdogan’s visit to Rome. According to the Italian media, the Kurds living in Rome plan to hold protests over Erdogan’s visit. For this purpose the protests are banned temporarily on the road from Erdogan’s hotel to Vatican.

Since 1959 Erdogan will be the first Turkish President to visit Vatican.

The relations between Turkey and Vatican became tense over the issue of the Armenian Genocide, in particular after April 12, 2015 when the Pope delivered a mass dedicated to the 100th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide in the St. Peter’s cathedral. During the mass the Pope said a Genocide took place in the 20th century during which Armenians, Greeks and Assyrians were killed.

Pope Francis visited Armenia on June 24, 2016 under the slogan ‘Visit to the First Christian Nation’. He visited the Tsitsernakaberd Armenian Genocide Memorial to pay tribute to the memory of the innocent victims.