The pope should have consulted Görmez before his Middle East trip

Pope Francis put on a good show for the benefit of the Israelis and, to some extent, the Jordanians, but was far from convincing for the Palestinians as he ended his tour of Jordan, Israel and the West Bank.

He did not reprimand Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for the slaughter of Palestinians in Gaza or the systematic destruction of Palestinian territories as Israel carves into them by building settlements. He did not draw attention to the systematic destruction of Islam and Christianity in Jerusalem. It is clear that Israel, run by conservatives, aims to turn Jerusalem into a Jewish city and end the presence of all other religions.

At the end of the day, the pope offered to hold prayers with the presidents of Israel and Palestine at his office in the Vatican and the invitation was accepted by Palestinian President Muhammad Abbas. There are rumors that the prayer session may be held on June 6 at the Vatican. Anything that melts the ice between Palestine and Israel is good, but despite this, the prayer session seems to be an empty gesture as the peace process between Israel and the Palestinians has totally collapsed and there is an antagonistic Israeli government that has no intention of allowing a Palestinian state in the region, let alone any Palestinian presence. Former Israeli President Shimon Peres, who will be attending the prayer session, is on the way out and has little political clout.

The pope would have been better advised to visit the Gaza Strip and see for himself what man is capable of doing to man before he visited the Holocaust Museum in Jerusalem. Maybe then he would have viewed the Israeli leaders from a different perspective.

Yet the pope did not bother to observe the carnage on the spot in Gaza. He did not even bother to visit Palestinian Christians who are the oldest Christian community in the world, who can boast that their Church of Jerusalem was founded by Christ himself, while the Church of Rome was founded by Christ's apostle St. Peter.

When the pope visited Ankara and met with Turkey's head of the Presidency of Religious Affairs, Mehmet Görmez, the pontiff should have understood that he was speaking to the emerging leader of the Muslims of the world and should have paid more attention to his motto: "Let us live together and reinvent the moral principles and rules of coexistence." That is the motto that will be the salvation of Jerusalem as people create the conditions of coexistence in a place that is extremely sacred to Muslims, Christians and Jews alike. It is also the motto that will aid in the salvation of many Western countries that have to create conditions of cohabitation.

The pope should look back at the visit by Görmez where he gave a massive unprecedented sermon at Al-Aqsa Mosque on May 15 upon the demand and insistence of Palestinian Muslims. Görmez, who is also regarded as Turkey's Islamic leader, gave the compassion and peace-loaded message of Islam to the Palestinians irrespective of their faith.

He did not preach destruction or putting an end to the Christian and Jewish presence in those lands. On the contrary, he preached coexistence just as Prophet Muhammad did in Medina.

The world has much to learn about Turkey's approach to Islam and the constructive attitude of Turkish leaders and its religious establishment.