ISTANBUL, August 1. /TASS/. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has held a telephone conversation with the Pope during which he expressed his indignation over the opening ceremony of the Paris Olympic Games.
"President Erdogan said that the immoral demonstrations staged during the opening ceremony of the Paris Olympics have caused indignation and reaction. He said that under the guise of freedom of expression and tolerance, human dignity was trampled upon, religious and moral values were ridiculed, and this offended Muslims as well as the Christian world. President Erdogan also said that the challenge to religious values, the perverted propaganda and the moral collapse into which the world is plunging at the Olympic Games, which are held with the aim of uniting people, are alarming signals," the Turkish leader's communications department said in a statement.
The Olympics opening ceremony, which took place on July 26, featured a provocative parody of Leonardo da Vinci’s "The Last Supper." Parts of the ceremony that were widely circulated on social networks stirred debates both in Russia and abroad. Thus, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban slammed the ceremony for showing the lack of culture and public morals in the West. Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov told TASS that "there were some absolutely disgusting moments" during the ceremony and said it was a shame that the International Olympic Committee (IOC) had approved it. According to him, it is a good thing that Russian viewers did not see the opening ceremony, as the country’s broadcasters decided not air any events of the Paris Olympics due to Russian athletes’ suspension from it.