President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan spoke with Pope Francis via a phone call Thursday to discuss the Palestine-Israel conflict and the suffering of Palestinians in besieged Gaza.

The Turkish leader told the pope it was a shame that the international community has turned a blind eye to the oppression in Gaza and also stressed that Israel’s attacks, which cannot be justified in any religion, have reached the "level of massacre," according to a statement by Presidency’s Directorate of Communications.

Erdoğan stated that all states should raise their voices against this humanitarian tragedy.

In the region that houses holy sites of the three Abrahamic religions – including Francis' faith – lasting peace can only be achieved through the establishment of an independent, sovereign and geographically contiguous Palestinian state with its capital in East Jerusalem based on the 1967 borders, Erdoğan also told the pope.

He further highlighted Türkiye's significant efforts to deliver humanitarian and medical aid to Gaza and called on everyone to actively support these efforts to ensure uninterrupted delivery of aid to innocent civilians.