A Wave of Hysteria in Turkey: Controversial Stamp Featuring Pope Francis Printed

On March 5, the pastoral visit of Pope Francis, the leader of the Roman Catholic Church, to Iraq began. The Pope visited Erbil and met with the leadership of the Kurdish autonomous region in northern Iraq, reports Ermenihaber.am.

During this visit, a controversial stamp dedicated to Pope Francis has been issued by the leadership of the Iraqi Kurdistan Region. The stamp features an image of Pope Francis, with a map of the geopolitical project known as 'Greater Kurdistan' depicted above.

This map includes parts of the current southern and southeastern provinces of the Republic of Turkey, most of which are historically recognized as territories of Armenia. The stamp showcases provinces such as Hatay, Şanlıurfa, Mardin, Hakkari, Kahramanmaraş, Sivas (Sebastia), Malatya, Diyarbakır, Muş, Van, Erzurum, Erzincan (Erzinjan), Kars, Ağrı, among others.

It should be noted that this map has sparked a wave of hysteria within Turkish nationalist circles, in the Turkish press, and has become a topic of discussion on social media. Turkish media outlets report that the authorities in Erbil are effectively promoting the 'Kurdistan Workers' Party' (PKK), which is considered a terrorist organization in Turkey. Some news outlets have labeled the incident as provocation.

The ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) spokesperson, Ömer Çelik, responded to the situation. He stated that such maps are prepared and circulated from time to time by various circles. “We saw the controversial map. All of it is false and fake. Such maps appeared in France before. Sometimes Armenia also engages in this. We believe that there are elements in the minds of certain circles that provoke enmity against Turkey,” he remarked.

It is worth recalling that Pope Francis is the first leader of the Roman Catholic Church to visit the Middle Eastern country.